Cyclone Debbie Really Did a Number on Australia

Australia's Category 4 Cyclone Debbie killed surprisingly few people when it came ashore, but because it was large and slow-moving, caused vast amounts of flooding and property damage, hammering agriculture particularly. The Great Barrier Reef is likely damaged. The city of Lismore is flooded, which is many, many miles away from the point of landfall.

Debbie was not the most damaging cyclone to hit the Queensland coast, even in recent years. But it was one of the largest, and its legacy was still wreaking havoc on Friday, with flooding rains over a large expanse.

Lismore in northern New South Wales, 870 miles from Bowen, was inundated. In Logan City, south of Brisbane, more than 300 houses were expected to be flooded.

Rockhampton is bracing for a major flood.

Spaghetti modeling.

Such a strange-looking rainfall pattern: