Sky News Reports On Yasi

Right now, Yasi is spinning away in the southeast corner of the Northern Territory. If one has to quarantine a vigorous tropical low, that's the place to do it, within the vastness of some of Australia's driest areas. Still, they aren't accustomed to lots of rain in those areas, so they will feel distress. And as the remains of the storm become caught up in the mid-latitude circulation, just like with Cyclone Anthony, there will be ample opportunities for heavy rains in Adelaide, Melbourne, and points southeast.

For such a powerful storm, the amounts of rain weren't earth-shattering, but that was only because the storm was moving so fast that heavy rain didn't linger too long. Flooding still occurred, however, because the ground was already saturated from weeks of prior rains.

In coastal areas, Yasi appears to have denuded all the trees that it didn't knock over first. Entire forests were stripped of leaves. Buildings that stood for generations caved in under the intense dynamic pressure. So, this was a wind disaster, first and foremost.