| Date: | 2021-04-13 06:04:24 | |
| Sender: | moblas <moblas@midwest.com.au> | |
| Subject: | [SLR-Mail] No.2700: Yarragadee damaged due to cyclone Seroja | |
| Author: | Randall Carman | |
| Content: | Author: Randall Carman Dear Colleagues, The Observatory at Yarragadee was in the path of category 3 cyclone Seroja which crossed the coast near the town of Kalbarri on the night of the 11th of April. Winds in excess of 160km/h were measured briefly at the station at around 10pm. Only minor damage was inflicted to the MOBLAS vans but major damage has occurred to other infrastructure including sheds, verandahs, fences and carports. The MOMS van containing the laser system does seem to have been moved slightly but is operational. We will attempt an optical alignment asap but we seem to have suffered less than 50mdeg of change in the transmit path. Tracking will resume in earnest as soon as possible after the alignment, although some returns have been obtained this morning to prove the integrity of the system. A local tie survey will be done by Geoscience Australia as soon as a team can be scheduled to fly over. The DORIS and GNSS systems appear unaffected although comms to the GNSS equipment is down. The 12m VLBI dish appears ok although pointing checks are still underway ( the neighbour´s 13m dish suffered extensive damage) We are still without mains power and 95% of communications, as the whole Midwest region has been affected. No-one was on-site during the impact and none of the staff have suffered anything other than minor damage to their homes. Regards, Randall |