Price of Cyclone Yasi to Australia can be in the billions of dollars

Australia has been enduring a number of the most severe weather ever recorded in the history of the nation. Cyclone Yasi, a huge storm, slammed to the coast of the state of Queensland not too long ago. Just after Queensland experienced some of the most detrimental flooding on record there; the Category 5 storm slammed into the coast with wind speeds upwards of 200 miles an hour. The destruction from Cyclone Yasi will likely cost Australia $2 billion at the very least. Australia has such a high amount of destruction that personal loans alone would never be big enough to cover the costs of repairing the damages. Article source – Cost of Cyclone Yasi to Australia will be in the billions by MoneyBlogNewz.

Devastating agriculture is Cyclone Yasi

The Australian state of Queensland got hit with the Cyclone Yasi hard. This was right after terrible floods happened. Right before hitting, the cyclone went from a Category 4 to a Category 5. The storm was as large as Hurricane Katrina at first. Then, the Christian Science Monitor explained it changed to be the size of the U.S. Queensland is one of the chief agricultural locations in Australia, and destruction is thought to be near catastrophic. The agricultural losses are already thought to be at least $1 billion, with another billion in impaired property. As much as $500 million might be lost by the sugar cane crop in Australia considering 30 percent was lost. The Australian banana crop has also been severely affected, with 75 percent thought to be lost.

Prices of food increased

Reuters reports that world food costs went up after news of the cyclone and crop loss went around. The United States lost a ton of wheat in the snowstorms that hit while Australia lost a ton of banana and sugar cane crops in this storm. Together, the price of bread, sugar and bananas are all going up. American wheat costs already have begun increasing in the wake of the winter storm, which has been nicknamed “Stormageddon.” Nearly half of the United States is covered in snow and ice, with freezing temperatures setting in after the snow storm.

La Nina creating destruction

The Telegraph explains that "La Nina" is the reason for all the terrible weather this year. The phenomenon outcomes in lower ocean surface temperatures and atmospheric pressure, which is the opposite effect that an El Niño has. Results of La Niña periods are often wetter, colder winters in the United States and Canada along with milder summers. In the southern hemisphere, the rainy season usually has heavier rainfall and stronger cyclones.

Information from

Christian Science Monitor

csmonitor.com/World/Asia-Pacific/2011/0204/US-sized-Cyclone-Yasi-could-cost-Australia-more-than-2-billion

Reuters

reuters.com/article/2011/02/03/us-food-prices-idUSTRE71223720110203?pageNumber=1

The Telegraph

telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/australiaandthepacific/australia/8297904/Cyclone-Yasi-La-Nina-and-record-ocean-temperatures-behind-storm.html