Elaine Meinel Supkis
Cyclone Glenda is a wicked witch this time around, winds over 165 mph, she flew across Australia's northern shores, went to sea for only a day and a half and became a catagory 5 storm, now down to "only" a catagory 4. Harbinger for our storm season.
Australia is bracing for its second major cyclone in two weeks as a storm with winds of around 280km/h (175mph) headed for its western coast.
Cyclone Glenda was expected to hit north-west Australia's Pilbara coastline late on Thursday.A major iron ore port on the Pilbara coast has sent its ships out to calmer waters, and the 10,000 residents of the coastline are preparing their houses.
Like the ones that hit here last summer, this is right across Australia's offshore oil fields, too. I don't know if or how much this will affect world oil prices but since we are in a world pumping like crazy, it wouldn't surprise me to see prices hop up a bit.
Hurricane Wilma grew from a catagory one to a catagory five in less than a day, the main growth occuring in just 90 minutes, a record. This one in Australia was no slacker, going from 65 mph winds to over 185 mph in less than 36 hours. One of the main features of global warming is the tremendous intensity and the incredible speed at which storms can grow when they go over super-warm seas. These storms scour the land when they hit and are not life-form friendly.
Major oil and mining operations shut down and residents were told to take immediate shelter as severe cyclone Glenda bore down on Australia’s west coast packing winds of up to 265 kilometers an hour.State emergency services in Western Australia issued a "red alert" for people in coastal areas around the massive oil and ore ports of Karratha and Dampier, meaning residents should halt evacuations and take shelter.
"The cyclone is basically very close and there are extreme winds and a lot of danger. If people haven't evacuated by now, it's probably too late," said spokesman Jim Cahill.
Glenda was a category four cyclone, just one level below the maximum five, and was forecast to make landfall late on Thursday in the Pilbara.
Here is the official website for tracking cyclones in Australia.
Here is the PDF file map showing all the oil fields.
Just as I thought, it is the major oil fields of Australia. Quite a few offshore rigs right in the path of this major storm. Already, oil prices in Australia are moving upwards. This storm could ruin as many rigs as Katrina or Rita.
Pretty awesome and fearful.
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