North united in face of danger

CAIRNS may have escaped the wrath of Cyclone Debbie but the memory of Cyclone Yasi is still fresh in our minds.

We know the fears that are running through the minds of our southern cousins in Cardwell, Ingham, Townsville and Ayr.

We remember taping our windows, stocking up on water, and waiting for the fury that Yasi unleashed on us.

We flew hundreds of patients to hospitals across the state — the biggest patient transport operation ever performed in the country.

In the days following her coastal crossing we surveyed the damage.

We saw our boats washed ashore, their owners powerless to stop the damage and destruction done.

We walked through our farms, our livelihoods battered and bruised.

Innisfail residents lost the roofs off their homes, their walls falling down as they met the harrowing winds.

And after we looked, surveyed, and examined, we stood up strong and, as a community, rebuilt.

Those of us in Cairns may be out of the danger zone for Cyclone Debbie, but we’re with all of our southern cousins in spirit as they face the second-biggest cyclone we’ve seen this decade.

When Debbie comes she’ll most likely take a few things with her — roofs, trees, fences — and leave a whole lot more behind. But when she’s done we know the communities of North Queensland will get up on their feet the way they always do and get on with the rebuild.

We’ve faced bigger storms as a state, had worse floods, and have always come back strong. Cyclone Debbie might be big, but she’s not bigger than our fighting North Queensland spirit. Danaella Wivell