Thousands Homeless In Cyclone's Wake

Troops began moving aid to the cyclone-shattered town of Innisfail on Tuesday as residents picked through waterlogged streets littered with rubble and mangled roofs destroyed by Australia's most powerful cyclone in decades.

Officials estimated that thousands of people in Innisfail and surrounding towns were left with severely damaged homes, though many remained in them, while others moved to temporary accommodations being set up by churches and community groups.

No one was killed when the tempest struck early Monday, amazingly, officials said, and only minor injuries were reported.

"There most certainly would be around 7,000 people ... that are effectively homeless," federal lawmaker Bob Katter told The Associated Press. "They're sitting in four walls but no roof."

Katter was speaking after attending a barbecue for hundreds of victims using meat from butchers that otherwise would soon start rotting because there were no working refrigerators after the storm cut the town's power.

Trucks carrying soldiers rumbled through the streets of Innisfail, which bore the brunt of category-5 Cyclone Larry.

"One of the most immediate needs is to get shelter over roofless homes, and there are many," said Charlie McKillop, a spokesman for Attorney General Philip Ruddock, whose department was helping coordinate aid.

Troops set up a water purification unit to replace water supplies that were cut, and health authorities warned residents to take precautions to avoid contaminated water. Most pipelines have been ruptured or polluted, Michael Usher reports for CBS News.

"The water treatment plants don't work and we are issuing a boiled water notice to residents to keep boiling their water," said David Sellars, from the Queensland state Tropical Population Health Unit.

President Bush called Australian Prime Minister John Howard early Tuesday to offer American help if needed.

"Of course we are able ourselves to look after this," Howard said. "But it was a very generous, thoughtful gesture on his part and I thank him for it."

The landscape around Innisfail was one of devastation, rain forest shredded by the winds and acres of sugar and banana plantations flattened, the broken branches and cane lying on the ground eerily pointing the same direction. An apartment block with its roof torn off looked from the air like a doll's house.

The storm wiped out about 10 percent of Australia's sugar crop, and would likely cost the industry $144 million in losses, industry officials estimated Tuesday.

Banana farmers were hit just as hard. The Australian Banana Growers Council estimated revenue losses of $253 million and 4,000 jobs gone this season.

"The whole bloody place is blown apart ... this is going to be a long, slow recovery," Queensland Premier Peter Beattie said after visiting the town.

Also hit was the World Heritage Listed Great Barrier Reef, a tourist magnet that draws nearly 2 million visitors each year. Hundreds of tourists and thousands of residents hunkered down inside resort hotels and homes as the cyclone smashed into the coast, reports CBS News.

Rosarie Cullinane, a 24-year-old from Ireland doing temporary work in the town to fund her travels, said she and other backpackers spent Monday night huddled in their hostel wrapped in mattresses to protect them from the danger of flying broken glass.

"I never expected anything like this," she said Tuesday. "I did hear about cyclones but I didn't think it was going to be that bad."

Innisfail's main street was littered with rubble from badly damaged buildings and the corrugated metal used for roofing in the region. In some parts of the street, people waded through knee-deep water.

For many, cleaning up isn't even possible, Usher reports. There's nothing worth saving. Their homes and lives are wrecked, Usher says.

About 170 troops were helping to deliver aid, while cleanup and special search and rescue crews were also heading to the town.

Among other supplies flowing in were nearly 10,500 gallons of water, 6,000 in-flight meals provided by Qantas, and gas and gasoline.

Police also sent extra officers to the region.

"We're mindful that looting is a possibility and we have the resources if we need to deal with it," Superintendent Mike Keating told Seven News. There had been no reports of looting, he said.

Howard pledged aid to the shattered communities and said he would visit them Wednesday.

"The federal government will give what is needed to get these communities back on their feet," Howard said.

Meanwhile, weather forecasters warned that another cyclone, named Wati, was moving toward the Queensland coast south of where Larry struck. But the storm was currently much weaker than Larry, and may yet change direction.

Beattie said it could take days to restore power and water supplies to Innisfail, about 60 miles south of the major tourist city of Cairns.