A fisherman discovered the 130 year old wreck of a 30 m longboat uncovered by Cyclone Yasi on the shores of Ramsay Bay on Hinchinbrook Island.
January
30 News came that a cyclone originating near Fiji was intensifying.
February
1 Cyclone, named Yasi, was predicted to rise to Category 5 intensity, exceeding cyclones Tracy and Larry (1974, 2006). Cairns base hospital on the Esplanade and Cairns private hospital evacuated on 1 February. Thousands of residents in low-lying areas also evacuated to avoid the expected storm surge associated with the cyclone. Dunk Island Resort guests and some staff were flown to safety as Cyclone Yasi approached.
2 Just before midnight the eye of Cyclone Yasi passed directly over Dunk Island as a Category 5 tropical cyclone. Mobile phone communication and power were lost and 109 resort staff on the island were forced into lockdown.
3 The centre of Category 5 Cyclone Yasi crossed the Queensland coast 150 km south of Cairns. Fortunately the cyclone did not coincide with a high tide, although there was heavy rain and flash flooding. Winds in Cardwell gusted to 290 km/hour. Damage was extensive, many residents had been evacuated, and nothing was heard from Cardwell for several hours. Seventy vessels from Port Hinchinbrook were smashed as the sea rose two to four metres above its normal level. Over a quarter of Cardwell’s houses and apartments were damaged or destroyed.
The effects of the cyclone were damaging as far away as Cairns and Townsville. Cardwell, Mission Beach and Tully were very severely damaged and supplies of fresh water had to be brought in to those towns, together with El Arish and Silkwood. Six hundred Army personnel and State Emergency Services volunteers were brought in on the day of the cyclone to help with the clean-up. Within six weeks there was 150,000 cubic metres of compacted mulch generated from felled trees and vegetation. Habitat and food for the endangered cassowary and mahogany glider were in short supply after Yasi, and food drops and feeding stations were provided.
Cyclone Yasi passed about 40 km south of El Arish, with sugar plantations and high-set Queenslander farm houses badly damaged, along with the post office and business premises.
In Lucinda it is estimated there were wind gusts in excess of 240 km/hour, but the storm gauge was destroyed before the maximum was reached. The sugar-loading jetty was extensively damaged. Inland, Halifax was described as a giant swamp when inspected a couple of days later.
August
1 Hayman Island re-opened after five months of extensive restoration due to the severe impact of Tropical Cyclones Anthony and Yasi earlier in the year.