YES!! We want to see pics of all those precious little ones. :) What time do you go to the hospital tomorrow, Daisy?

"sure!" I want chocolate-chip!

I believe it. It was massive and devastatingly powerful. Oh it was bad to be sure. No doubt about it. I've been looking at some of the pictures. And no doubt those who have lost homes, crops and businesses won't feel as if they've dodged a bullet, but all in all considering the size and strength of this monster cyclone, it seems that the worst of it was concentrated in a relatively narrow area which is truly incredible when you consider the size and strength of the storm. I was really worried in my heart for all of your countrymen up there in Queensland and even though it was a very bad storm, I think the potential was to be much worse so there was a sense of some relief to see that it wasn't what I feared it would be. I imagined damage the likes of which are being seen in Tully and Innisfail to be much more widespread along the coastline and much much father inland and I was just relieved that that wasn't the case. But my heart definitely goes out to those who have been impacted most by this storm. But I'm guessing if it's your home and worldly possessions that have been destroyed it's hard to rejoice that your neighbor the town over is doing okay. :grouphug:

. "Hey Rocky" Bullwinkle said

Have you all seen these images?? Amazing. Blizzard Satellite current radar Stay warm everybody. :grouphug:

I noticed the same. I hope the next time she posts it will be her birth announcement. :party: :hurray: :)

We do. The set belongs to my dh and he brought it with him when we got married. They are from the 60's and are so amazingly outdated, but he loves them because of how his family saved up to buy the set back when they were new and so expensive. :)

Thank God. I watched the satellite feed as it was making landfall and I was amazed at how quickly it lost steam once it crossed land. I was so happy when I saw that it was downgraded to a 3 almost right away. Not good for the people who were right on the coast where the eye made landfall, but good for everyone else. Do all of your cyclones weaken that quickly? Man, I wish it was like that here in Florida, but our storm linger on and kick the crap out of us until they come out the other side. We even had one (Hurricane Wilma) that actually strengthened over us! :001_huh: It made landfall on the west coast as a cat 2 and by the time it hit me here on the east coast it was a cat 3. Gave us quite the shellacking I tell you. Where I live we got the stupid eye wall 3 TIMES because it came in at a diagonal! :glare: Me too! I was praying so hard for it to weaken and for no one to be harmed. Stuff can be replaced, people can't. I was watching that link that someone posted up here with the live news feed and I saw the Premiere of Queensland come on and she said that so far there were no reports of injuries or lives lost. I just let out the hugest sigh of relief. I am so glad that it turned out so much better than was expected. :)

That's brilliant! Thanks for the link. :)

Just checking in to see how our moms are doing. Hopefully ya'll are staying warm. :grouphug:

Yikes! It is massive. The size of it reminds me of Hurricane Francis. She covered the entire state of Florida! I hope this will be a comfort to some of you that have relatives up there that are worrying for them, but if you look at the satellite images you can see the varying degrees of the bands that are wrapping around and feeding the core of the storm. When the storms get very strong, they pull in towards the core and spin faster and faster much like how an ice skater can spin faster if she pulls her arms in versus having them extended. If you look at it like a bullseye, the eye of the storm will have the strongest winds, but it is also the smallest area of the storm. The bands immediately around the eye are strong but not as strong as they eye wall itself and as the bands go further and further out from the eye, they will be less and less intense. With a storm this size, the hurricane force winds will extend out pretty far, but it will be varying degrees of strength and will be lesser and lesser "categories" in strength the farther out they extend from the core. If your relatives are in an area that is further out from the core, they might be able to ride it out without too much damage. When I was reading the updates on Yasi, I read that the buildings were made stronger after a previous cyclone had hit and that they were strong enough to withstand a category 5. I hope that this will be the case and that many will be able to ride it out in safety even if the noise outside is frightening.

I'm so sorry if the pictures I put up upset you. I put those for Rosie so that hopefully she could pass them on to the relatives up there who were not to keen on leaving, with the hope to try to convince them to evacuate. I'm sorry if they have upset you. :grouphug: We are standing with you in prayer. :grouphug:I've been praying constantly for them and will continue all throughout this day. :grouphug: They're in for a rough night. Hopefully Yasi will blow through quickly and be done with it. Praying for a weakening storm and for protection for all your countrymen up there. :grouphug:

He waved his wand

Yikes! I hope it weakens before it makes landfall. I've been through one category 5 hurricane in my life and it is still probably the scariest thing I've ever been through and I wasn't even in the worst part of it! :eek: It is scary. Even with strong building codes a home would be hard pressed to stand up against a cat. 5 storm. Hopefully the news is informing people what to do IF their roof does lift off. That information saved lives during our Cat 5 storm. Me too.

Actually I've read somewhere that the poles are shifting.

and kissed the wizard

and stopped the snow.

in his tower until

made them very angry

It's 76 degrees here by me. Ya'll are welcome to come down and thaw out. :)

Well fortunately it looks like it will be considerably weaker by the time it makes landfall according to the latest forecasts. That is GOOD news. I was really surprised that they were forecasting it to make landfall as a cat 5 before. It's really not that common that a storm maintains that kind of intensity for long periods of time, but I've never followed Aussie cyclones before so I wasn't familiar with what types of cyclones you get and their strength. If their house is strong and the windows are protected, they should be able to ride out a cat. 3 without too much difficulty. They probably won't be too comfortable, but it shouldn't be life threatening unless they are near the coast and are going to get the storm surge when it comes ashore. Hopefully they don't have any trees right up next to their house that can fall on the roof because trees will go down in those winds. But barring anything landing on the roof of the house, they should be okay. They'll probably lose some tiles or some sections of their roof, but that will probably be the extent of it. Do you know if he has shutters for his windows? I hope so. Hopefully they'll know to go to a windowless room if they need to if things should get too dicey. I'm praying for them and for all your countrymen. Let's hope it continues to weaken before striking. :)

Ah good news!! They are now forecasting the storm to weaken to a category 3 before making landfall. That is very good. cyclone Let's hope it continues to weaken. Will keep praying. :)

been chased by bears.

they got distracted by

Isn't Cairns forecast to take a direct hit from the storm? I don't know where your rellies are, or how close they will be to the coast, but if it were me and I were in the path to take a direct hit (eye passing over) of a Cat.4-5 storm, I'd evacuate. People just have no idea how powerful storms like these are. The hurricane/cyclone force winds will extend out for miles from the core with the strongest winds right in the eye wall and around it. If you have any influence over them, Rosie, and there is still time for them to evacuate I'd give them a call and strongly urge them to do so, especially if they are near the coast. I don't care how strong their neighbor's house is, unless it is shaped like a dome and is as strong as a bomb shelter, I wouldn't ride it out there. This is the island of Captiva off of Florida's west coast that got hit by Hurricane Charley which was a category 4 at landfall. You can see exactly where the eye passed through. It cut the island in two. This is a Miami neighborhood that was leveled by Hurricane Andrew which was a category 5 storm at landfall. People think that it is only straight winds and gusts that they have to worry about, but typically in strong hurricanes there are also tornadoes within the eye wall that rip everything to shreds. It is the violent wind in all directions that will tear roofs off of houses and the pressure difference inside the house from outside where the pressure will be low because of the storm can blow out windows. Once those winds are inside the house, the roof can come right off if it's a typical pitched roof type of home. And depending upon how thick the eye wall is, and how quickly the storm is moving on it's course, you can be in those conditions for hours. When hurricane Wilma hit us in 2005 it was a category 3. Where I live we were in the eye of that storm for hours and it was scary. That was only a cat. 3. There are very few structures that are truly made to withstand a category 5 storm. I hope that your rellies will reconsider and go south to Brisbane. I'm praying for all who are in the path of this storm. :grouphug: