A powerful cyclone with winds of 290 kph devastated on Monday the city of Cairns, the main tourist centre of north Queensland State, in the northeast of Australia. Cyclone Larry caused damage to about 300km of coastline, stretching south from Cairns to Townsville.

About 250,000 live in the area which accounts for 25% of Australia's sugar cane production. Prime Minister John Howard alerted the military forces, which are now helping rescue operations or medical emergencies in the most affected areas, where houses were damaged and invaded by floods and trees were uprooted.

The Bureau of Meteorology said Cyclone Larry was similar in size to Cyclone Tracy, which killed 71 people and destroyed about 70% of the Darwin city in 1974. Cyclone Tracy caused in 1974 losses of 344 million pounds, being the third largest natural disaster in Australia.

The northeast area of Australia is also the centre of Australia's banana industry. So far, 90% of banana production is believed to have been wiped out. Officials said the cyclone was a maximum category 5 but, as it approached the coast, it was downgraded to a category 4.

"Katrina was a large, intense hurricane. A lot of the impact from Katrina was from the water caused by the storm surge. Here we've got coral reefs and islands, so it changes the nature of the impact," stated meteorologist Joe Courtney, adding that the present cyclone has a narrow zone of destructive winds compared to Katrina.