I f you are traveling to or from Northern Territory and Queensland in Australia within the next few days, expect your travels to be significantly impacted by two severe tropical cyclones.
Severe Tropical Cyclone Lam — near the Northern Territory — is at category 4; while Severe Tropical Cyclone Marcia off the Queensland coast has strengthened into a category 5 cyclone.
This weather event can potentially be historic, as there have only been four cyclones rated at category 5 which have made landfall in Queensland on record, according to the Bureau of Meteorology of the government of Australia.
Qantas Airways has posted this official notice pertaining to Severe Tropical Cyclone Marcia:
Weather conditions associated with Tropical Cyclone Marcia are likely to disrupt the travel arrangements for a number of Qantas Customers travelling to/from Brisbane, Hamilton Island, Rockhampton, Mackay, Gladstone, Hervey Bay, Bundaberg, Coolangatta, Biloela, Blackall, Barcaldine and Longreach.
Options are available to Qantas customers holding a valid ticket issued on/before 19 February for travel on/before 24 February 2015 who are affected by Tropical Cyclone Marcia.
All passengers with impacted bookings will be notified by Qantas or their Travel Agent directly and re-accommodated onto alternative services. Log in to your booking via Manage Your Booking to see if your booking has been impacted.
We are closely monitoring the weather conditions and further updates will be available. For the latest flight status information please refer to the Flight Status page on Qantas.com.
There could also be a ripple effect affecting flights to places such as Sydney, for example. Check with the airline which is operating your flight to get the latest updates and to minimize disruption to your travel plans as much as possible. Please be sure to contact lodging companies, rental car companies, ground transportation companies, and any other entity which is scheduled to operate some part of your travel which could be aversely affected.
In the meantime, I wish all of the best to those who are about to be affected by these two intensely powerful tropical systems…
Satellite image courtesy of the Bureau of Meteorology of the government of Australia.
