Emergency services advise residents to ‘bunker down’ ahead of Cyclone De...

Emergency services advise residents to ‘bunker down’ ahead of Cyclone Debbie

NEWS: goo.gl/a3kAcQ



CYCLONE Debbie is doing her worst in North Queensland as the Category 4 system begins to make landfall on the mainland between Airlie Beach and Bowen.

Residents in the rural town of Bowen, predicted to be “ground zero” for the devastating weather event, are beginning to feel the effects of the system Queensland Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk has described as “equivalent to a one in 100 year event”.

Roofs have been ripped from buildings and flying debris has begun to cause damage as cyclone’s most destructive zone impacted the Whitsunday Islands and mainland towns including Airlie Beach, sending residents into a panic before making its way further inland.



After the coastal town was lashed by destructive winds and sheeting rain the storm has significantly calmed over Airlie Beach as the eye of the storm reaches the town before the chaos begins again.

A video published by ABC journalist Jonathan Hair from an Airlie Beach apartment shows a fan blowing in the wind that had been ripped from the ceiling and large pieces of debris being dragged by harsh winds across the building’s balcony during the worst of the eye wall’s impact.



News.com.au reporter Emma Reynolds was in a hotel about a kilometre away from the beachfront but still in ankle deep in water as the eye wall hit.

“The wind is really ferocious, really intense now,” she said. “It’s roaring like a fighter jet.

“We can’t see the water at all. The sky is completely misted with sheets of rain flying across and branches are being ripped from the trees.

“We’ve heard that the wind is so strong people can barely stand up at the marina.”



She said hotel guests, many of them evacuated local families with children, were beginning to panic about the loss of power and communications. There are also questions about how long supplies will last.

“People are starting to get a bit stir crazy... We definitely feel quite isolated.”

“We have a reasonable amount of bottled water and some food but not enough for days and days. We were told to fill up the bathtubs for extra drinking water, but it just keeps draining away.”

The mist at Airlie Beach has cleared enough for people to see the astonishing sight of a boat on the water being thrown about in “huge waves”.

Reynolds said: “I’ve got no idea whether it’s emergency services or who it is but it looks terrifying - anyone on there would be very ill.”



Hotel guests have been told the cyclone’s eye could take up to three hours to pass over them.

“And then it is supposed to get much worse.”

Earlier she reported that the wind was “frighteningly loud”, even at 2am Queensland time.

“We can hear it howling through the trees and frequent banging sounds.”.

“Everyone is trying to get some rest but the noise and worry makes it difficult, as well as the fact we know we may need to move down to our hotel’s underground carpark at some point.

“The power went out just before 10.30pm so we’ve been using torches and trying to conserve mobile phone battery as we don’t know what’s coming next.

Residents on Hamilton Island have reported winds “like freight trains” as the cyclone’s “very destructive core” passes through the popular holiday spot.

At the island’s airport wind gusts up to 263km/h were recorded before dropping to 213km/h.

The Category 4 cyclone is the worst the state has seen in at least six years.

David, a caller to Nine’s Today who is staying on the resort island, said the scenes outside were “like world war three” as he witnessed a tree fall through the roof of a nearby villa.

“I am standing, actually, on the toilet looking out the tiny little window and villa number 42 has copped it, a massive tree has gone through the side of the roof,” he said.

“The winds are insane. I can’t imagine it getting any worse than this. All the trees are destroyed. It looks like world war three to be honest outside.”

Lissa Morris has lived on Hamilton Island for 14 years and has had a house on the island for almost 30. She spoke to news.com.au from her home in the centre of the cyclone’s path.

“It’s massive and so frightening. It’s right on top of us now and it’s stalled with winds in excess of 200km/h,” she said.

“It is so noisy, it’s like half a dozen 747 jets coming through. It’s incredibly loud through the windows. Whether the house will stand a Category 5 which they are predicting, I don’t know.”