Cyclone Jasper knocks out power to thousands of homes

A mass rescue has been carried out and flood warnings are in place in Far North Queensland with cyclone* Jasper causing chaos.

Crews were called to a town called Mossman near Port Douglas, about 12.40am where 18 people needed to be evacuated* due to dangerous flash flooding and were taken to an evacuation centre at the local library.

Cyclone Jasper was downgraded* to a tropical low* late on Thursday but it was a wild night, with as much as half a metre of water dumped in some places and heavy rain and potentially damaging winds still an issue.

After an emergency meeting this morning, Treasurer Cameron Dick said Jasper’s “tail is lingering over the Coral Sea”.

“This event is not over,” he said.

“We have seen 24 hour rainfall totals of about half a metre across Far North Queensland – that is a very large volume of water.”

Mr Dick said 40,000 homes and businesses in Far North Queensland were without power and that the Captain Cook Highway was cut between Cairns and Port Douglas.

Senior Meteorologist* Laura Boekel said wind speeds had reached up to 115km/hr.

“We have seen widespread rainfall from this system so a lot of catchments* and locations have seen over 200mm”.

She said rainfall totals* of between 115 and 200mm were still possible today, while 24-hour rainfall totals could reach 300mm today.

“If we see these fall in a short period of time, intense rainfall within a short period of time, that’s when we can see that dangerous and life-threatening flooding,” she said.

Energy Minister Mick de Brenni said one in four premises* were without power because of debris* bringing down powerlines.

He said restoration* would begin soon, with “critical community assets*” the first to be reconnected. The timing would “depend on where your home or business is”.

“This will be a significant task,” he said. “Stay away from fallen powerlines.”

The Bureau has warned there have been significant river level rises in the Mossman river, which is expected to reach levels similar to the January 2019 floods.

The areas around Wujal Wujal, Cape Tribulation and Port Douglas copped the brunt* of the cyclone but surrounding communities did not escape unscathed, with Palm Cove and Cairns also smashed by wild weather.

A severe weather warning remains in place across Far North Queensland, with 90km/h wind gusts* still possible along the coast.

Residents from Cooktown to Port Douglas were overnight warned to prepare for flash flooding to begin overnight, with the slow-moving system dumping inches of rain.

Police began ordering people off the streets and emergency alerts went out by midafternoon, urging people in the firing line to take shelter in the strongest area of their home.

About 31,000 homes and businesses were without power and the State Emergency Service received more than 120 calls for help hours before the eye of the cyclone* reached land.

People in the storm’s path were being warned not to be fooled by the calm conditions inside the cyclone’s 70km-wide eye, which was expected to take hours to cross over some areas.

“The eye is really big,” Bureau of Meteorology forecaster Patch Clapp said on Wednesday night.

“There’s a period of calm conditions, a lull*, in the eye itself.

“But you can’t pick that time period, so keep sheltering. Wait for the whole system to pass.”

The cyclone was producing wind gusts of 140km/h, with centre wind speeds of 100km/hr.

Authorities were on standby* to work around the clock to restore power to the tens of thousands of homes and clear fallen debris.

Energy crews* were due to kick into action as soon as the danger of the storm had passed, making powerlines safe and assessing damage* to the Far North’s power network.

GLOSSARY

• cyclone: a very strong wind that spins around a calm centre, often bringing heavy rain and causing damage
• evacuation: to move people from a dangerous place to a safer one
• flash flooding: sudden and intense flooding that happens very quickly
• tropical low: a weakened form of a cyclone that still brings heavy rain and strong winds
• downgraded: to be reduced in intensity or severity
• meteorologist: a scientist who studies and predicts the weather
• rainfall totals: the amount of rain that falls over a specific period
• catchments: areas that collect and hold water
• premises: buildings or land with their buildings
• debris: broken or scattered pieces of something
• restoration: the process of bringing back or repairing something to its original state
• community assets: important things that belong to a community, like power stations
• brunt: the main force or impact of something
• wind gusts: sudden and strong bursts of wind
• eye of the cyclone: the calm centre of a cyclone
• lull: a short period of quiet or less activity
• energy crews: people who work to fix and maintain power sources
• assessing damage: to carefully examine and understand how much harm has been done
• standby: ready to act or help at any moment

EXTRA READING

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QUICK QUIZ

1. Why did the people in Mossman need to be evacuated, and where were they taken?
2. What is a cyclone, and why was Cyclone Jasper causing chaos in Far North Queensland?
3. Why were people from Cooktown to Port Douglas warned to prepare for flash flooding?
4. What is the “eye of the cyclone,” and why were people warned not to be fooled by the calm conditions inside it?
5. Why were energy crews on standby, and what would they do once the danger of the storm had passed?

LISTEN TO THIS STORY

CLASSROOM ACTIVITIES
1. Design a safety kit
Describe or design a special cyclone safety kit that could be given to every home in cyclone areas. Use information in the story to give you ideas.

Time: allow at least 30 minutes to complete this activity
Curriculum Links: English, Science, Health and Physical Education

2. Extension
Do you know how and why cyclones develop? Use your research skills to find out. Use the information to create a set of diagrams or pictures that will help other kids understand exactly how and why cyclones happen.

Time: allow at least 40 minutes to complete this activity
Curriculum Links: English, Geography, Science

VCOP ACTIVITY
Opener up-level it
Make a list of all the openers in the article. Pick three that repeat and see if you can replace them with another word, or shuffle the order of the sentence to bring a new opener to the front.

Don’t forget to re-read the sentence to make sure it still makes sense, and that it actually sounds better.