i sincerely hope that unlike Tracy where aircraft and the Airfast S61 were being flown into Darwin on the eve of the cyclone that all aircraft, especially those assets that will be required as rescue aircraft have all been repositioned to the south. There will be no VHF, VOR's, mobile phones or power to pump fuel from underground stocks in the hardest hit areas for some time. I hope everyone has a serviceable HF if they are going in there afterwards and an ELT.
The first vis conditions after the event to be avbl for heli movements will be low coastal. Trying to reposition back to the coast from behind the range will be folly for some time.
Its the mini cyclones in the periphery that do the most damage, having attended the cleanup of Tracy for three weeks or so, I am almost at the stage where I wish to turn the media off, being too far away to help or be of service and frightened witless by what I am seeing. There was only two aircraft that survived on the darwin airport without damage out of a hundred or so. The big tough cyclone rated hangars counted for nought.
alomost certainly the Garbutt RAAF base and airport at townsville will be flooded.
Here is a link on the Jo Nova site to demonstrate the size. Its only 6hP short of the biggest ever to hit mainland OZ.
Yasi 2011 — Cyclonic force of nature « JoNova