when a cyclone comes

You've got to be ready when a cyclone comes

When cyclone Althea hit Townsville in northern Queensland on hnstmas Eve it caught many people unprepared. Which is rather peculiar as Queensland has a long and sorry history of tragedy and devastation trom cyclones, or hurricanes, or typhoons, call them what you will They are all the same. ' , A .. c ... . .

Now had it hit Fiji, for instance, tew of those having anything to prepare wouJd have been unprepared.

With vivid memories of the 1952 hurricane when Suva had only 90 minutes warning of one of the worst storms in its history, most people today are as ready as ever they can SSW h h a e ve W °„ r lb A ere d 80V := The same goes for many houses.

Every year, as the hurricane season approaches, advice is given on the precautions to take. The dominion’s <u y, A T u Fl J l Times > Publishes the full drill and everywhere, m population centres, can be seen men cutting back trees and bushes which. with branches too near power or telephone lines, can pose a threat in high winds. All this doesn't mean

that hurricanes need hold no fears for those ready for them. Even with the modern, sophisticated methods of tracking them, hurricanes remain exceedingly unpleasant visitations, Preparedness, however, can save lives, T u * . .. th Th h e . S™ ? a th sf at comes not from the hl gh winds, but from the floods which follow in the hurricane’s wake Twelve people were drowned in Fiji in the 1964 hurricane, but this was a minor occurrence compared with the one which claimed some thing like 500 lives in Queensland in 1899 when the pearling fleet was lost Th)c n nH u

coScted^ome

facts about 50 cyclones and floods which have hit Queensland between 1867 and 1970. After wading through those, one realises that there are worse places to live, weatherwise for one thing, than the Pacific Islands, . . „ Ltd s7so” y tor Holthouse Ri e b y