Cyclone Ita

There is a concentrated  powerful cyclone (south the equatorial Pacific speak for hurricane) bearing down on NE Queensland, Australia as I write this.  It is predicted to come ashore about 150 miles north of Clifton Beach where my sister Karen and her husband Frank live.  Weather pundits are predicting one of the largest storm surges on record combined with a high tide leading to a possible surge of 40 feet.

The path of the storm is predicted to curve around Clifton Beach from the NE heading SW, there is a chance it might pass right over them.  Ita is already slowing down as the front side of the storm comes ashore.  However it goes, Karen is likely in for the biggest rainstorm of her life. The live on a hillside well above the coastline so flooding won’t be a problem for them.   

I am grateful Karen will not get a direct hit from the full power of Cyclone Ita and that they live well above any possible storm surge.  I am also grateful we do not get storms like this in Bellevue.  A cyclone is far more devastating than the rainstorms or relatively mild snowstorms we get in Western Washington.