ON OUR WAY
Far North sends an army of helpers after day of fury
North Queensland felt the full force of category 4 Cyclone Debbie as we felt her heat, recording the hottest day of the year. About 70 SES crew members will help the ravaged communities of Bowen and the Whitsundays.
THE army has been called in to clean up Queensland’s disaster zone after Cyclone Debbie smashed into the Whitsunday region, unleashing howling winds of 260km/h.
The storm downed trees, stripped buildings and left shorelines swamped after making landfall as a category four storm at noon near Airlie Beach and is expected to continue wreaking havoc for the rest of the week.
A man suffered serious injuries after a wall collapsed and authorities are warning there could be deaths as the impact of Cyclone Debbie is likely to last up to five days.
Cyclone Debbie made landfall between Bowen and Airlie Beach shortly after noon yesterday with the eye wall hitting the Whitsunday Islands and nearby mainland after smashing Hamilton Island.
At 3.04pm the weather bureau downgraded the cyclone to a category 3, but wind gusts up to 205km/h were still predicted as it moved slowly inland. It has been declared a “catastrophe” by the Insurance Council of Australia.
At 6pm the system had wind gusts of more than 125km/h and was about 25km west of Proserpine.
One of the first images to come out in Debbie’s aftermath shows a house in Airlie left with a gaping hole in one of its walls and a tree on its roof.
The “very destructive” core of Debbie had wind gusts up to 270km/h.
Police Commissioner Ian Stewart said authorities were expecting deaths.
Authorities have warned the recovery would be a long haul, similar to the 2011 floods.
Commissioner Stewart said damage from the cyclone made it impossible to tell how bad it was on the ground.
“The loss of power, the loss of phone connectivity means that there could be people right now who are in difficult and dangerous and tragic situations – we just don’t know about it,” he said.
Mr Stewart urged people in cyclone-affected communities to take photos of suspicious activity to present to police, following looting concerns.
“Sadly there are those in the community who will take advantage of the situation,” he said. “If you see someone in the area acting suspiciously, take a photograph to give to us.”
Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk urged anyone wishing to “sightsee” to stay away so that emergency services could get through.