Anglican Communion News Service - Digest News

The world read reports and saw graphic pictures when Cyclone Larry struck Innisfail, (1629km north of Brisbane - 88 km south of Cairns - with a population of 9,000), early Monday morning, March 20, but what happened to the churches, their buildings and their members can now be told.

Power poles leaning at 75 degrees; smashed banana plantations and bruised cane fields indicate something of the velocity of the Cyclone that has separated buildings but drawn people together. Teams of road workers - working together even though from different locations - assisted by members of the Defence Forces, contributing manual assistance, are obvious everywhere. Not so obvious is the unity and combined resources of the churches as they too work together in this aftermath.

Dr Geoff Love, Director of the Bureau of Meteorology is reported as stating that, yes, it was a Category 5 Storm but statements that wind bursts reached 290km/hour are 'not true.' 'The highest recorded was 102km/hour.'

Pastor Brett Wilson of the Innisfail Baptist Family Centre told of waking at 3.00am that Monday morning and being aware of the eerie stillness - 'not a breath of air!' Gradually, but definitely, the wind velocity increased until between 6.30-6.45am Cyclone Larry arrived.

As debris started flying and trees were pushed over - some hundreds of years old - fear of the unknown and uncontrollable set in. 'Anyone who says they were not scared is not owning up to their real feelings. I was scared and I admit it,' said Brett.

In this banana growing area, an estimated 90 per cent of the crop was smashed. Broken trees lay on the ground, many broken half way up the stem, with full hands of bananas now rotting on the ground.

As teams of pickers had to leave the area, because of wrecked houses and accommodation, the farming families and friends will have to manually cut the crop at ground level themselves, before they can plant again.

Nearby, cane growers have a variety of crops planted and they are waiting to see which variety survived. Their income from last year's crop is still being paid, so they will have a steady supply of finance until July. Then, it is possible, they will have no income for many months!

Unlike when Cyclone Tracy struck Darwin, December 1974, many houses still have walls - but no roofs! Completely flattened houses are located alongside double story buildings that only lost glass from the windows.

Businesses have been devastated with the loss of their roofs and water-soaked inventory. Some small businesses are slowly but surely cleaning up, while some of the bigger firms are thinking of closing their Innisfail branches.

There has been an appealed for people to stop sending food parcels, as this will only stop people from buying their food supplies locally - thus supporting local businesses.

Anglican Churches

The Rev. Christopher Wright, Area Dean of the Northern Deanery of the Diocese of North Queensland, commonly called the Cairns Deanery, described his area of responsibility as 'larger than Tasmania' - stretching from Cardwell in the South to Cooktown in the North and from the Great Barrier Reef in the East, across to the Northern Territory Border in the West.

Rev Wright said that earliest reports indicated that St Alban's Anglican Church in Innisfail was the worst hit as it had lost its Church Hall, but as access to the Palmerston Highway opened up, going up the Atherton Mountains, it was revealed that the Anglican Church in Millaa Millaa - a small rural settlement of 180 people - had lost 90 per cent of the roof.

In Tully, 52km South of Innisfail, the Anglican Church was spared, although some trees on the property had to be cut down.

In Babinda, North of Innisfail, 220 houses were 'significantly damaged' - 13 will need to be demolished and 125 will require 'part demolition.' The RSL Memorial Hall is amongst those needing to be completely demolished. Some described this as 'the worst hit area in the Cyclone.'

The Holy Cross Anglican Church was not seriously affected, so opened its doors as a drop-in centre for relief supplies. The trees on the property are stark and shattered at their tops, yet in the midst of this scene the Anglican Church is giving hope, care and concern for people in need.

In Innisfail, Father Ray Fishwick of St Alban's, described the 'pool table' underneath the main Hall area, as 'a pool on a table!' Upstairs, the hall has no outer walls - the Besser concrete blocks have been scattered far and wide. The roof was torn off and part of it hit a neighbour's house, taking its roof with it!

During the eye of the Storm, Fr Fishwick ran to see if the neighbours were injured, but they came out to greet him assuring him they were OK - then went back into their roofless house!

The rest of the hall's roof is intact, upside down, in the area behind the church.

Inside the water-soaked hall, the piano is lying upside down, at an angle, but it is not safe to walk across the water soaked wooden floor to attend to it.

As a former engineer, Fr Fishwick can tell that the wooden church building is still twisting and warping, so now to decide how to strengthen and brace it.

Official statements described Cyclone Larry in detail.  NASA's Natural Hazards website reported that 'on March 20, 2006, Tropical Cyclone Larry had come well ashore onto the mainland, losing much of its power as it travelled westward. Larry had peak winds of around 140 kilometers per hour (85 miles per hour), significantly less strength than it had possessed just one day before.'

Now is the time for prayer and concern for those who survived the forces of nature, in their time of need for fellowship and support.

By Ramon Williams*

photos available: http://community.webshots.com/user/ramon_williams

* Ramon Williams visited the area on Wednesday, March 29, to assist the Religious Media and those involved in North Queensland.