QUEENSLAND, Australia - The severe cyclone expected to hit Queensland on Thursday is likely to rival, and on some measures, dwarf Cyclone Larry, which devastated parts of north Queensland.Bureau senior forecaster Ann Farrell said the latest modelling suggested Yasi would make landfall somewhere between Innisfail, in the north, and Proserpine, in the south.
- If it hits as a category three, wind gusts up to 200km/h can be expected, and 250km/h if it builds to a four, as Cyclone Larry was when it devastated Innisfail and surrounding communities in March 2006.
- "By that stage we will be looking at a severe tropical cyclone so certainly at least a (category) three, and a category four we wouldn't be ruling that out by any means." Ms Farrell told AAP.
- She said the last cyclone of that magnitude to hit Queensland was category four Cyclone Larry. Larry left a trail of destruction including damage to 10,000 homes and a repair bill of more than a billion dollars.
- Cyclone Yasi is just north of Vanuatu, about 2000 kilometres east-northeast of Bowen, which suffered only minor damage when Anthony crossed the coast on Sunday night.
- Unlike Anthony, which weakened into a low pressure system after crossing land, Yasi is expected to menace Queensland as a strong cyclone even after crossing the coast, the Courier Mail reports.
- Queensland's Bureau of Meteorology says it's likely to cross the north coast either on Wednesday night or Thursday morning.
- The bureau's senior forecaster Gordon Banks said Yasi would be big and intense, bringing destructive winds and heavy rain across the state. He said like January's devastating floods, Yasi will most likely be a state event.
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