Utes packed to the brim as coastal residents flee Cyclone Trevor

Mattresses, blankets and other precious items are being packed tight into utes in the Gulf of Carpentaria town of Borroloola as residents flee ahead of Cyclone Trevor's arrival.

Residents of Borroloola pile into a C-130
Hercules to evacuate from Cyclone Trevor.

If the cyclone tracks on the path that is predicted, it could slam into the town at full force as a category four storm system on Saturday.

"Most of them are getting evacuated — the babies, the mums and the elderly," resident Nola Anderson said.

"Others that can drive out are driving out now.”

Fuel vouchers have been distributed by a Borroloola Aboriginal organisation to help people escape the impending storm system.

Read the ABC News story by Emily Smith, Emelia Terzon and Matt Garrick - “Utes packed to the brim as coastal residents flee Cyclone Trevor.”

The first fleet and Australia’s unforgiving weather

The women screamed as the huge waves crashed loudly on the wooden deck. Horrified, they watched the foaming torrent wash away their blankets. Many dropped to their knees, praying for the violent rocking to stop. The sea raged around them as the wind whipped up into a frenzy, damaging all but one of the heavily loaded ships.

The severe storm was yet another taste of the ferocious weather that slammed the First Fleet as it made its way across the Southern Ocean in December 1787. Now, after an eight-month journey from England in a ship riddled with death and disease, the passengers’ introduction to Australia was also far from idyllic.

The unforgiving weather that greeted the First Fleet was a sign of things to come. More than once, intense storms would threaten the arrival of the ships and bring the new colony close to collapse.

Read the Pursuit story by Dr Joëlle Gergis from the University of Melbourne - "The first fleet and Australia’s unforgiving weather.”

Seemingly nonsensical weather will test the skeptics

What arguments will the skeptics resort to as they attempt to explain the seemingly nonsensical weather in America?

Eastern Americans presently wrestle with brutishly cold weather while in the west they are busy preparing for a drought.

A story published by News10/ABC headed: “California officials preparing for drought in 2014” says officials are preparing for a drought that could result from a “lacklustre end to the winter rainy season”.

Meanwhile a story on News.com headed: “Severe storm blankets US Midwest and Northeast with snow; travel chaos as 2300 flight cancelled” tells us about the chaos the storm has brought.

Beyond that, another story headed: “Floods and storms lash UK and France” tells us that high winds, waves and tides lashed the western coasts of Britain and France, flooding sea-side towns and low-lying areas.