Mother Nature’s fury still lingers after Cyclone Yasi
By EVAN SCHWARTEN
30 July 2011 (AAP) – SOME day it’ll be one of those things old timers boast about to cyclone-wary newcomers. “You think this is bad? You should have seen Yasi,” they’ll say. But that kind of bravado is still some way off. Six months after experiencing the biggest cyclone in a century, the wounds in the North are still raw. Reminders of Yasi’s fury are everywhere: the vacant lots where houses once stood; forests, once thick and green, battered; cane and banana crops destroyed. The pain is still evident, too, on the faces of some of the worst-hit survivors, even though they talk tough and greet you with a smile. […] Yasi didn’t just damage houses. It crippled entire industries and ruined livelihoods. Tully Support Centre manager Shane Greenwood says many are still struggling emotionally and financially. In fact, the centre has more people seeking financial assistance now than in the two months after Yasi hit. “People are basically at a point where their savings are gone, the bills are starting to mount up so they are basically in need of large levels of assistance,” he says. He says many families are still effectively homeless, couch-hopping between friends and relatives while they wait for their homes to be repaired or rebuilt. […]
