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CANBERRA, Australia (AP) \u2014 The first tropical cyclone to hit Australia in the current season weakened to a low pressure system but continued to lash the northeast coast Thursday with flooding rain and left almost 40,000 homes and businesses without power.<\/p>\n
Cyclone Jasper crossed the Queensland state coast late Wednesday as a category 2 storm on a five-tier scale that whipped the sparsely populated region with winds of up to 140 kph (87 mph).<\/p>\n
The cyclone crossed near the Aboriginal community of Wujal Wujal, 110 kilometers (68 miles) north of the city of Cairns, though many of its 300 residents evacuated before Jasper struck.<\/p>\n
Katrina Hewitt, who operates tourist accommodation at Wujal Wujal and did not evacuate, said the community was largely unscathed except for damaged trees.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt looks amazing. No flooding, no breakages of buildings,\u201d Hewitt said.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt was a big waiting game. We just didn\u2019t know what was going to happen,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
Hewitt expected Wujal Wujal would be isolated for days by fallen trees blocking roads.<\/p>\n
The winds quickly eased as the storm tracked west across land, but heavy rain was forecast to continue Thursday with the risk of flooding.<\/p>\n
Several roads were closed by fallen trees and floodwater.<\/p>\n
Emergency services officers rescued 12 people and a dog from floodwaters at the town of Mossman, Queensland goverment minister Cameron Dick said.<\/p>\n
Almost 40,000 homes and businesses had lost power, which amounted to 25% of electricity customers in the cyclone-effected area, Dick said.<\/p>\n
Government meteorologist Angus Hines said some weather stations in the region reported more than 40 centimeters (16 inches) of rain in the 24 hours to Thursday morning.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe rain that is coming in now is falling onto places that are already saturated. It\u2019s falling onto rivers that are already swollen and running high,\u201d Hines said.<\/p>\n
Jasper progressed over land relatively slowly, at around 10 khp (6 mph)<\/p>\n
Betty Hinton, who runs an ice cream business in Daintree village, estimated the edge of the cyclone\u2019s eye passed directly over her home during a sleepless night.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe fact that it traveled so slowly was very trying,\u201d Hinton said. \u201cI\u2019ve been in cyclones before, a much stronger cyclone than Jasper, and it wasn\u2019t so heart-wrenching.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThis one just went on and on and on and there just didn\u2019t seem to be any relief from it, and so for 14 hours we were buffeted here and then the heavy rain started,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
Hinton said her house was built to withstand the strongest cyclones and was not damaged.<\/p>\n
Cairns Airport had closed late Tuesday due to the worsening weather and was expected to reopen Thursday.<\/p>\n
Charlie Casa, a manager at the electricity company Ergon Energy, said the Port Douglas, Daintree and Mossman regions were worst effected by power outages.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n