We’re expecting a visitor. Her name is Debbie, Tropical Cyclone Debbie. She’s a Category 3 as I write this but BOM (Bureau of Meteorology) is confident she’ll strengthen to a Cat 4 by the time she makes landfall. Oh and by the way, ‘tropical cyclone’ is what we call hurricanes in this region of the Southern Hemisphere and yes they do spin clockwise (hurricanes spin anti-clockwise).
She was heading straight for us — I live in Townsville — but she’s swung more to the south while I’ve been out doing some last minute shopping. This is BOM’s current tracking map of her progress and estimated future movement and intensity:
As a Cat 3, Debbie is already packing a punch. From the latest Tropical Cyclone Advice:
Intensity: Category 3, sustained winds near the centre of 120 kilometres per hour [74.5 mph] with wind gusts up to 165 kilometres per hour [102.5 mph].
While we retain power and internet connection, I’ll update as she intensifies.
The last three days have been hot and stuffy, the air heavy with humidity. Debbie is pushing all the hot air in front of her as she heads towards us. Once the outer ring of gale force winds and rain reach us it will cool down quite quickly. This is good because as soon as the next ring of destructive winds arrives, that’s when we’re likely to lose power — and that means no air conditioning and no internet.
Our delightful next door neighbor, Toni, optimistically suggested this morning that maybe we won’t lose power… very very optimistic! Our little suburb still has above-ground wires strung between poles and I don’t see those surviving that second zone of destructive winds!
Preparations
There’s very little for my flatmate Duggy and I to do. Fortuitously, our rubbish bins were emptied this morning so I’ve filled our big wheelie bin with water for washing and flushing toilets. (I regularly scrub out the bin and use thick bin liners to keep it clean.) We have plenty of bottled drinking water and also plenty of food. Duggy cooked a couple of roasts this morning and I’ve filled up my section of the fridge with lots of salads and rolls (and some chocolates).
Duggy has stowed his bike in the shed while my old bike is in the patio; jammed between the brick wall and an old table. The patio isn’t fully enclosed unfortunately and it will probably flood. I need to get as much out of there as I can and shove it in the shed.
The wheelie bin full of water is under the carport. We don’t have a car but our neighbors Toni and Pablo have one each so we’ve offered our carport space to them in exchange for hot water heated on their barbeque (I’ll need coffee more than ever!).
We are very lucky where we are. There are six units in a line and we’re in number 4. They are situated such that only the first unit will get the brunt of the blast while we shelter behind units 1,2 and 3.
Behind us is a brick wall, a fence, some large trees and a two-storey house.
Everyone at these units has been through this before and we will help each other this time.
This morning it was quite breezy but currently it is very still — literally the calm before the storm.
Monday, Mar 27, 2017 · 6:03:47 AM +00:00 · Mopshell
Details of Severe Tropical Cyclone Debbie at 3:00 pm local time: Tropical Cyclone Advice #22
Intensity: Category 3, sustained winds near the centre of 150 kilometres per hour [93mph] with wind gusts up to 205 kilometres per hour [127mph].
All my prep is completed — all loose items stored away in the shed; bucket of water ready in downstairs loo (toilet); groceries put away and I’ve had something to eat at last — a lovely homemade salad sandwich — scrumptious! I’ve also recharged my kindle and bought a new book for it. Phone is still on charger.
Just need to make sure all windows are left open a little then I’m going upstairs for a cool shower, a relaxing read and a nap. 🙃 <= Aussie DownUnder grin!
Monday, Mar 27, 2017 · 7:27:41 AM +00:00 · Mopshell
Details of Severe Tropical Cyclone Debbie at 5:00 pm AEST:
Tropical Cyclone Advice #24
Intensity: Category 3, sustained winds near the centre of 155 kilometres per hour [96 mph] with wind gusts up to 220 kilometres per hour [136 mph].
Debbie has made landfall — her leading edge is on the coastline now, some way south of us. We may get really lucky here!
Latest tracking map from BOM:
And now I’m off to bed for a much-needed rest! If we still have power (and I’m very hopeful now) I will update again when I wake. Sweet dreams everyone. 🙃
Monday, Mar 27, 2017 · 7:43:45 AM +00:00 · Mopshell
Last update before I shut down: Just got very dark very suddenly and hopefully we’ll get rain. We need it to cool everything down — still too warm, though that cool shower I just had was bliss!
Sleep well everyone, sweet dreams.
Monday, Mar 27, 2017 · 2:20:57 PM +00:00 · Mopshell
Details of Severe Tropical Cyclone Debbie at 11:00 pm AEST [9am EST / 6am Pacific]:
Tropical Cyclone Advice #30
Intensity: category 4, sustained winds near the centre of 175 kilometres per hour [105 mph] with wind gusts up to 250 kilometres per hour [155 mph].
Location: within 30 kilometres [18.6 miles] of 19.6 degrees South, 149.7 degrees East , 160 kilometres [99 miles] east northeast of Bowen and 185 kilometres [115 miles] north northeast of Mackay .
Movement: west at 7 kilometres per hour.
Severe tropical cyclone Debbie is currently a category 4 cyclone. It may intensify further as it continues to move west-southwest towards the Queensland coast tonight. Severe tropical cyclone Debbie is forecast to make landfall between Ayr and Cape Hillsborough (north of Mackay) on Tuesday morning.
I’ve had a lovely sleep! Woke to gusty wind, no rain, thick hazy cloud and 300C [860F] at 11:15pm local time. That’s unusual as we’ve been getting overnight temps of 240C [740F] lately — 300C sure feels warm!
Figured we’d missed Debbie altogether… until I saw my Weatherzone pop-up — check out their cute graphic for gale force winds:
This morning I bought myself a combination pack consisting of a miner’s head lamp and small LED torch for a mere $10. The pack includes 6 AAA batteries — but no instructions on how to put it all together. LOL! I worked it out though and have both upstairs by my bed. The big flashlight is downstairs — it’s quite a pretty shade of yellow which is just as well because I forgot to get a battery for the damn thing!
Making myself coffee while we have power — will have a cooked midnight brekky too.
No telling when Debbie will get to us. She appears to have come to a standstill while she boosts power up to a Cat 4. Very hopeful now that Townsville will miss the worst of it — we could do with some rain though if she cares to fling some our way.