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Cyclone batters Australia

Havoc looks like nuclear aftermath, says Mayor

RIPPED OFF: A ruined home in Innisfail, Australia, on Monday following a powerful cyclone. — PHOTO: AP

CAIRNS (Australia): Metal roofs littered streets, wooden houses reduced to splinters, banana plantations stripped bare — all victims of the most powerful cyclone to lash Australia's east coast in decades.

Amazingly, there were no fatalities and only 30 persons suffered minor injuries as severe cyclone Larry pounded northeastern Queensland state early on Monday with winds gusting to 290 km per hour. Damage was expected to run into hundreds of millions of dollars.

Hardest hit was Innisfail, a farming city of 8,500 persons 100 km south of the tourist city of Cairns.

``It looks like an atomic bomb hit the place,'' Innisfail mayor Neil Clarke told Australian television. ``It is severe damage. This is more than a local disaster, this is a national disaster.''

Thousands homeless

The town urgently needed accommodation for people whose homes were damaged, a power supply to feed hospitals and other infrastructure, he said, adding: ``We won't even have any water to drink by tomorrow.''

There was no official count of the homeless on Monday, but given the number of homes badly damaged, the figure could run into the thousands, Mr. Clarke said.

An official said the human toll was low because people were warned about the cyclone's approach over the weekend and either boarded up their homes and fled or hunkered down or went to evacuation centres in town while the storm raged outside.

``Good planning, a bit of luck — we've dodged a bullet,'' he said.

Many of the people who left are expected to return on Tuesday, many without knowing if their homes are still standing.

Military helicopters were to join relief efforts on Tuesday, flying damage assessment flights and carrying a medical team to Innisfail, Defence Minister Brendan Nelson said.

Queensland Premier Peter Beattie said 55 per cent of homes in Innisfail had been damaged. — AP

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