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Cyclone Monica Misses Darwin as it Makes Landfall in Australia(BestWire Services Via Thomson Dialog NewsEdge) Tropical Cyclone Monica, at one point packing wind gusts as strong as 220 mph, made landfall in northern Australia on April 24, causing damage in several small towns. But the powerful storm weakened quickly after making landfall and veered to the south, sparing the city of Darwin, according to a catastrophe report from reinsurance broker Guy Carpenter & Co. Citing Australia's Bureau of Meteorology, Guy Carpenter said Monica's wind gusts dropped to about 160 mph as it swept inland in Australia's Northern Territory state, damaging buildings and homes in the towns of Milingimbi, Jabiru and Oenpelli, among others. Telephone and power services were cut in many of the affected areas. Guy Carpenter reported that Northern Territory Chief Minister Clare Martin confirmed that the town of Maningrida was "substantially damaged." The city of Darwin was spared the direct hit from Monica that forecasters initially had feared. Winds as high as 40 mph and heavy rain were reported in Darwin. Monica first made landfall along a peninsula in neighboring Queensland state on April 19, damaging an estimated 15% of the homes in the Lockhart River area before passing over the Gulf of Carpentaria and re-intensifying, Australian weather officials said. Queensland is still cleaning up from Cyclone Larry, which hit March 20, causing an estimated A$350 million (US$261 million) in insured losses. Insurance Australia Group Ltd. (ASX:IAG) is estimating its losses from Cyclone Larry at between A$100 million and A$135 million (BestWire, April 24, 2006). Darwin was the scene of the costliest cyclone on record for Australia, when Cyclone Tracy struck on Dec. 24, 1974, causing A$200 million in damage at the time -- A$837 million in current dollars. (By David Pilla, senior associate editor, BestWeek: [email protected]) |