Cyclone Devastation in North Queensland
Wednesday, March 22nd, 2006I’ve had a few enquiries about how we’ve been affected by the tropical cyclone here in Queensland. Cyclone Larry hit Innisfail on Monday morning, about 7 am, with the force of 5, the same as Hurricane Katrina when it hit New Orleans. In the meantime the weather here on the Gold Coast and Brisbane has been mild as usual. A bit of rain today. Innisfail is 23 hours drive north of here, an hour south of Cairns.
On Monday afternoon I sat down to prepare for worship with a group of ministry students at Trinity College. I’m preaching and presiding next Monday. We were considering the passage in John 12 where Jesus talks about the grain of wheat falling to the ground. My thoughts were with the farmers whose sugar cane and banana trees have fallen to the ground. Even though no one has been killed in this catastrophe, it’s still like a death experience. A whole way of life is in suspension, perhaps for years. Rebuilding the economy will be a major task for the locals. Doug Jones, the lecturer responsible for the small group on Monday, commented that his daughter had recently moved to Innisfail. He’d heard that morning something of her perspective gained as she ventured outside in the eye of the storm.
On Monday, to prepare the chapel environment for worship, we’ll be strewing banana tree leaves, sugar cane and timber around the room to remind us of the context in which we live and worship.
I’ve just been talking to Craig Mischewski, a Uniting Church in Australia colleague in Townsville, who’s preparing a work party to head north to help out in the wake of Cyclone Larry. The tropical cyclone hit Innisfail this morning with an intensity of 5 - something similar to the impact of the hurricanes that smashed the Gulf of Mexico cities last year.
