Category 5 Cyclone Slams Australia

A powerful tropical cyclone ripped the roofs off buildings and uprooted trees in northeastern Australia, tearing across the region on Monday with devastating winds that pinned emergency workers inside despite pleas from terrified residents.

With winds up to 180 mph, Tropical Cyclone Larry smashed into the coastal community of Innisfail, about 60 miles south of Cairns, a popular jumping-off point for the Great Barrier Reef, sending hundreds of tourists and residents fleeing for higher ground, reports CBS News.

Des Hensler, an Innisfail resident, sheltered alone in a church, up to his ankles in water.

"I don't get scared much, but this is something to make any man tremble in his boots," he told the Seven television network. "There's a gray sheet of water, horizontal to the ground, and just taking everything in its path."

A Queensland state police spokeswoman at Innisfail said three people had so far been reported injured, including a woman struck by flying glass.

The spokeswoman, who spoke on a condition of anonymity citing agency policy, said residents had been calling the department all morning as gale force winds destroyed houses around them.

Police had not yet been able to venture out because the winds were still too strong, she said.

"They just have to stay put. There's nothing we can do for them," she said. "We just told them to wrap themselves in mattresses, blankets, whatever they can find and just stay put."

Queensland state Premier Peter Beattie declared a state of emergency.

"It's the worst cyclone we've had in decades," Beattie told the Nine television network Monday.

The Bureau of Meteorology on Monday upgraded the cyclone to a category five — the strongest category possible — shortly before it crossed the coast, but then lowered it to a category four after the storm hit land.

The storm passed directly over Australia's Great Barrier Reef, but there was no immediate word on what damage the reef may have suffered.

As reports flooded in about extensive damage across the northeastern coast, government and emergency officials were meeting Monday in Canberra to discuss sending troops to help clean up the cyclone-stricken area.

"If any military assets are needed, they will be made available," Prime Minister John Howard said.

Howard said he was confident the cyclone would not result in the chaos seen in New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina.

The storm has already devastated the region's multimillion-dollar banana and sugar farming industry, said George Pervan, deputy mayor of Johnstone Shire Council.

"The crops are all gone, bananas are all flattened, cane's flattened. It'll kill us for 12 or 18 months," Pervan said.

Up to 50,000 homes in the region were without power, and were expected to remain without electricity for several days, said Gaylene Whenmouth, a spokeswoman for Ergon Energy Cairns.

"It is still too windy to send crews out to do restoration, but we will be doing that as soon as we can, whenever it is safe to do so," Whenmouth said.

The stretch of coast in the storm's path includes the tourist city of Cairns, popular with international travelers and the starting point for many Great Barrier Reef boat cruises.