Cyclone Yasi lashes Queensland, but with no loss of life

Residents of Queensland have witnessed more devastation as Cyclone Yasi hit the already battered Australian state.

Queensland has already suffered severe flooding this year after ten years of drought. Now they have Cyclone Yasi, which is a category five cyclone the size of Italy, to contend with.

With winds of up to 185 miles per hour, the hurricane has destroyed dozens of houses and caused millions of dollars worth of damage to sugar and banana crops which had only recently started to recover after Tropical Cyclone Larry back in 2006.

But despite being more powerful than Hurricane Katrina, there were no deaths or injuries reported by Thursday evening (local time).

Cyclone Yasi struck in the early hours of this morning and residents found themselves crammed into evacuation centres and home made shelters to escape from the violent winds. Emergency crews are currently assessing the damage.

Julia Gillard, Australian Prime Minister, has proposed a one year levy to help clean up after damages are estimated at €3 billion. The cyclone cut the power to more than 180,000 homes in the surrounding areas.

On a more positive note, a British midwife who was on holiday in Queensland delivered a baby in the evacuation centre. The baby girl was born in a school hall with around a thousand other people.

The mother has stated that she refuses to call the baby Yasi.