The clean-up after Cyclone Jasper in Queensland in northeastern Australia has begun.
It is now feared that the storm has caused severe damage to the fragile coral reef.
The heavy flooding from Tropical Cyclone Jasper’s grip this week is beginning to recede and slowly Queenslanders are beginning to get an idea of the extent of the damage from the storm.
The severe storm exposed 20 percent of the fragile coral colonies along the Great Barrier Reef, causing strong waves of several meters to smash the corals, according to a calculation by the Australian Institute of Marine Science, The Guardian reports.
The flood threat to lagoons
Scientists also fear that water from the floods that gushed into the reef’s lagoons could destroy corals and seagrass beds near land.
Worst hit is the area around the tourist city of Cairns, whose airport had to remain closed and where the waves sometimes reached over eight meters in some places.
Although the storm was a Category Two storm when it made landfall, the fact that the cyclone had been moving so slowly along the Coral Sea for several days before had allowed it to push up high waves tens of miles from the storm’s core.
The Daintree rainforest was also hit hard by the storm with fallen trees and bushes, and the residents of Cairns, among others, were unexpectedly joined on the flooded streets by crocodiles that had drifted away from their natural habitat.
Hard hit fruit growers
Jasper is the worst cyclone to hit the area in many years, causing severe flooding and destroyed crops.
A papaya grower in the area says he lost 100,000 kilos of fruit in a few days, reports Australian ABC News.
The tourism industry in Queensland is believed to lose the equivalent of approximately SEK 860 million due to floods and canceled trips, writes the Financial Review.
Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese plans to visit the affected area this week to survey the damage after Jasper and what help is needed to rebuild the area.