How to brace for a storm

last updated 8 January 2015

Innisfail, Australia

A Category 5 hurricane flattened part of Queensland, Australia, last week, but not a single person was killed. Tropical Cyclone Larry slammed into the coastal town of Innisfail, ripping roofs from half the homes and destroying sugar and banana plantations. “It looks like an atomic bomb hit the place,” said Mayor Neil Clarke. Officials, though, were pleased with the emergency response. Just hours after the storm hit, state and federal agencies were in place and helicopters began arriving to pick up the stranded. “Everyone here studied Katrina and took a lot of messages away, a lot of lessons,” said Queensland State Emergency Service spokesman Ben Creagh. “There was absolutely no complacency at the planning level at all.”