http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2011/02/01/3126893.htm'Mayhem' as residents brace for YasiBy Sarah Collerton
Worried residents are battening down as Cyclone Yasi barrels towards the north Queensland coast, with forecasts it will be more powerful and larger than the devastating Cyclone Larry in 2006.
Yasi is expected to slam into the coast somewhere between Cairns and Innisfail at about 1:00am AEST on Thursday, bringing damaging winds of up to 280 kilometres per hour.
Queensland Premier Anna Bligh has warned that the storm is "huge and life-threatening" and weather expert say it is currently at least twice as large as Cyclone Larry.
Entire suburbs in some parts of north and far north Queensland will have to be evacuated today and airlines are putting on extra flights to evacuate residents.
Airports and major roads are expected to be shut tomorrow, with destructive winds expected to hit by early morning. Low-lying coastal areas may also be affected by storm surges and flash flooding.
And the weather bureau is now predicting Yasi will be at least twice the diameter of Larry, which crossed the Queensland coast as a category five cyclone in 2006.
The far-north Queensland town of Innisfail bore the brunt of Larry's wrath - more than half the homes in the town were damaged and the repair bill for Innisfail alone totalled $1.5 billion.
But Innisfail resident Jacqueline Copley is more worried about Yasi than any other cyclone in the past.
"I've seen Winifred, I've seen Larry, I've seen all the small ones," she said.
"We came off pretty good in those ones - just a little bit of damage here and there. But this one has me rattled. Cyclones don't normally scare me, but this one - I'm quite nervous.
"This one's a lot bigger, she's a lot meaner."
Ms Copley, who has lived in Innisfail for almost 30 years, says residents in the town are scared.
"People are worried about this cyclone - it is so big and we don't know how big it will get and how long it's going to take to cross the coast," she said.
"Plus the added worry of the tidal surge - we don't know what's going to happen with that."
Ms Copley says she will shut her cafe in town early today and head home to prepare.
She says she will bundle up her two young children and grab all important belongings and head over to her brother's place, which has become the family's cyclone bunker.
"There's a room downstairs with no windows at all, so it's quite safe. We stayed there for Larry," she said.
"It'll be a tight squeeze though. My parents will be there and my brother's family.
"Plus we take all the animals. I have three cats and my brother has a cat and two dogs. It's going to be interesting."
Another Innisfail resident, Trevor Simpson, says it is "mayhem" in the town.
"There's a queue outside on the road of people trying to get fuel," he said.
"Grocery stores are very, very busy."
Mr Simpson runs a hotel in the town which escaped damage in Cyclone Larry.
But he says they have not being complacent about Yasi - they have stocked up on food and organised a generator from Cairns.
"We're well and truly prepared - we haven't left any stone unturned at this stage," he said.
"People here understand what they've got to do and they're all preparing for it."
CairnsFurther north in Cairns, resident Simon Fuller is making evacuation plans for his loved ones.
"I'm trying to convince the family to head up into the mountains tomorrow," he told ABC News Online.
"It's awful in Cairns right now, the air is pushing down, it's like being under a wet doona."
He says the mood in the town is bad.
"All everyone is talking about is Yasi, and everyone is anxious, especially the ones who grew up here," he said.
"We're all watching, hoping it reverses or weakens before tomorrow night, but ... I'm not optimistic."
Another Cairns resident, Sassyandra, is expecting the worst.
"I have been through something like 15 cyclones. I am very apprehensive about this one - it does look huge," she said.
"I have brought most of my outdoor furniture inside this morning and will get somebody to help me with the glass-topped table this afternoon.
"[There's] a couple more hanging pot plants to bring in, then some buckets of water, my little camping stove is set up to go, the torch is recharging the batteries as we speak and I have a wind-up torch with in-built radio.
"I have enough food - just need to get a loaf of bread this afternoon - and I can withstand a week without electricity and water no problems."
But she says she has not seen widespread panic in the town yet.
"No panic that I have seen, just people taking sensible precautions," she said.
"Poor Innisfail will probably cop it worse than us again.
"We will survive, we are Australians."
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