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Cyclone nears east Australia, but little damage feared |
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| AUSTRALIA: February 5, 2003 | ||
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SYDNEY - A tropical cyclone headed for sugar plantations and tourist resorts in eastern Australia yesterday, but was not expected to cause significant damage.
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Cyclone Beni - which lashed the Solomon Islands, then slid between Vanuatu and the French territory of New Caledonia before curling back and crossing the Coral Sea - had now weakened to a minimum category one storm with 100 kph gusts (62 mph). Beni was expected to reach the area around the Queensland town of Mackay, at the southern edge of the Great Barrier Reef, early today, said weather forecaster Manfred Greitschus of the Bureau of Meteorology. "It's a very weak system at this stage," Greitschus told Reuters, adding he expected "minor housing damage, a few crops and trees, sheds blown over". Mackay lies at the heart of Australia's sugar plantations, which stretch for 2,000 km (1,243 miles) down the Queensland coast and make Australia one of the largest exporters of raw sugar in the world. Around 1,600 km (994 miles) north of the Queensland capital Brisbane, it is also near the popular Whitsundays resort islands.
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REUTERS NEWS SERVICE
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