Queensland coping well after cyclone

Cyclone Ului has failed to do any major damage to Queensland tourism infrastructure, according to early reports.The tropical cyclone slammed into the Whitsunday Coast on Sunday. Winds of up to 200 km/h flattened trees and tore air-conditioning units from walls.
Airlie Beach took a battering but Tourism Whitsundays chief executive Peter O’Reilly says the physical damage there appears relatively minor.
The cyclone caused booking cancellations and led to island resorts being evacuated and some beaches closed because of dangerous surf conditions, but industry leaders are confident of a swift recovery.
O’Reilly says Easter trade will help, the clean-up shouldn’t take long and the situation should soon return to normal.
Queensland Premier Anna Bligh said Ului represented more bad news for a region where the tourism industry had been hit by the global financial crisis.
“It will take some places weeks, at the very least, to fix broken windows and be fully operational again,” she said. “We are characterising it as a significant event with severe damage in some pockets, but not a catastrophic event.” She said her government would talk to affected businesses to see what help it could offer.
The storm was downgraded to a rain depression after weakening rapidly once it struck land.
Written by: Peter Needham