Update on Cyclone Monica *UPDATED*

Hi all. We've arrived in Darwin. It looks like a nice town. Today we've been looking for a job, 'cause we're starting to run low on cash again :) It's looking good, looks like there's plenty of work available in the area. If we can find a good job we'll stay here for 4-6 weeks, if not we'll go into Queensland and find a job there.

That cyclone I mentioned before is slowly moving in the direction of Darwin. It's still 600 km's east of us, and at the moment it's moving at 5 km's/hour in western direction, however there is a chance that it moves into our area during the next week. They tell us that these tropical cyclones are very unpredictable and thus there is no way of telling if we will get hit, and if we do it's possible that it won't be more than a storm. Cyclones gain strength over water, and loose strength when they cross land. There is still a lot of land between us and the cyclone, so chances are that when/if it get's here it will be a very "mild" cyclone.

I've got a few links for you guys so you can follow the progress of the cylcone:

Latest sat image : http://www.bom.gov.au/gms/IDE00035.latest.shtml

Sat loop of the last few images : http://www.bom.gov.au/products/IDE00902.loop.shtml

Summary of the situation: http://www.bom.gov.au/weather/warnings.shtml , under Northern Territory you'll find a few links with info about the tropical cyclone (TC)

We informed ourselves today about possible shelters etc. There is one just across the road of our backpackers, very convenient :) So if it does come to the worst (UNLIKELY), we already know what to do and where to go. So no worries :)


UPDATE 24-04-2006
The latest prediction is that cyclone Monica is going to hit Darwin full on. However, it is also predicted that it's going to power down from a category 5 to a category 3 (see http://www.bom.gov.au/weather/qld/cyclone/windstr.shtml for explanation on the different cyclone categories). We've been fully briefed by the staff of our hostel and have been told to head for the nearest shelter as soon as it opens. As it stands now that will be around lunchtime tomorrow (early morning Belgian time). It is only a prediction, so the cyclone may still end up changing directions by tomorrow. It is possible that in the next few days I won't be able to keep in touch via internet/phone/sms, but as soon as I can I'll post an update. If the cylone does hit it could take anything from a few hours to a day or more to pass. We've stocked up on 2 days worth of food ourselves, so we're ready to go :) The stormshelter we will be heading for is actually the underground parking of a brand new Holiday Inn hotel. It's been built to withstand cyclones, so we'll be perfectly safe there.

Bye for now.