There’s ‘no time for complacency’ as Cyclone Debbie claims first death

The storm that has Queensland worried has officially claimed its first fatality.  

Police Commissioner Ian Stewart told the press that a crash that killed a 31-year-old tourist and injured two others was believed to be “associated with this weather event”.

The storm that could reach a category 4 storm as it hits land has the Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk reminding locals that there was “no time for complacency at all”.

As people are evacuated from the targeted regions, there are others that are staying put and even taunting the storm with signs saying “Debbie, bring it on”!

Experts are warning people of all the possible problems that will come from the storm, including food safety.  Lydia Buchtmann from the Food Safety Information Council warns about perishable food in the event of power outage.  As per a press release, Ms Buchtmann states, “Unless cold storage is available within 2 hours of a power cut, all potentially hazardous foods such as meat, poultry, seafood and ready-to-eat perishable food) that are stored in refrigerators or chillers need to be:

• placed in alternative cold storage, for example coolers with ice or ice bricks, or into the fridges of family and friend’s
• eaten immediately
• if you have a fridge thermometer and have recorded the time the power went off, eaten immediately or thrown away if the temperature rises to above 5 degrees for over 2 hours
• if you don’t have a fridge thermometer and another cold storage area is not immediately available after 2 hours.”

We will keep you updated with storm news as it becomes available.