Australian Cyclone Aftermath, Ongoing Flood Threat Inland

One person has been reported as missing amid widespread destruction in theaftermath of Cyclone Yasi's thunderous landfall on northern Queensland,Australia, Wednesday.But the storm center, much weakened as of Thursday, was still bearing floodingrain and squally winds as it tracked deep into the interior of northernAustralia.

The eye of Yasi crossed the shore at Mission Beach, a small community betweenCairns and Townsville. Another town, Tully, was also struck head-on.

Estimates are that highest winds at landfall were up to 285 km/h, or 175 mph,and an unofficial gust of 220 km/h, or 137 mph, was reported at Innisfail.

Rainfall was 8 to 16 inches, or 20 to 40 cm, with more than 20 inches measuredat South Mission Beach.

Resorts on Bedarra and Dunk islands, in the direct path of the eye at landfall,were extensively damaged, according to management. Guests had been evacuated,and all were said to be accounted for, but some staff apparently weathered thestorm on Bedarra, and reports said they were prevented from leaving ahead ofYasi.

Wrecked house in Tully,Queensland, near the landfall of Yasi, on Feb 3, 2011 (AP Photo).Storm tides battered oceanfront property. In Cardwell, a town a bit south ofthe landfall, a high storm tide with powerful onshore winds reportedly raftedboats as far as two blocks inland from the harbor. Houses and other buildingswere unroofed, and a few were destroyed outright, say reports.

Untold numbers of trees were mowed down, and the area banana crop wasreportedly devastated.

Utilities took a hit in the storm's direct path, as many mobile phone towerswere not working, and some sewerage systems were reportedly out.

But at least one eyewitness is on record as saying that Yasi's lash was not asbad as it could have been. This storm chaser, who has witnessed other cyclones,is quoted as suggesting that the low extent of damage was surprising, given thesheer size and intensity of the cyclone. He attributed the low overallstructural damage to the sparseness of settlement in the area.

It also bears noting that the flooding rain from Yasi fell well north of theparts of Queensland devastated by floods of late December into January.

Meanwhile, threat of flooding rain will persist for at least a few days to comeas the storm's remnant low tracks west into the Northern Territory, then southinto South Australia.

Flood threat will follow the low pressure itself, but will also extend along acold front into southeastern Australia, especially the state of Victoria, whichhas been in a fight against floodwaters since December, 2010.

Story by Jim Andrews, AccuWeather.com Senior Meteorologist.