Cyclone Yasi Summary

At Midnight on Thursday 3rd February 2011, Cyclone Yasi hit land on Mission Beach on the coast of Queensland. It caused major destruction along the coast of Queensland, from Cairns to Ayr, damaging the flora and fauna as well as homes, businesses and vehicles. Cyclone Yasi was one of the most violent tropical cyclones to hit Australia in a century and in economic views it was Australia’s most expensive natural disaster in history, costing over $5 billion.

Cyclone Yasi also made dramatic social, environmental and economic changes to the communities. An example of the environmental impact is the effect on the banana crops. These crops were wiped out in Northern Queensland which supplies 90% of Australia’s bananas. This created problems for the importers and the whole sale markets. Because of how rare the banana had become, the prices went through a stage of being $25/kg. Also, many animal habitats were destroyed, causing food chains to be broken.

Cyclone Yasi Report