Rush to get out ahead of disaster
pened while he was attacked by bees when he stopped to move part of a tree that had fallen over a side road in his electorate.
“I got out to shift part of the tree so it didn’t damage my car and these bees that must have had a hive in the tree attacked me. I don’t know how many times I was stung on the face,” he said.
One meteorologist who spoke to the Townsville Bulletin warned people not to be complacent about storm surges. He said a surge could be like a tsunami and could “turn towns to match wood”.
“People don’t understand how bad they can be. They are not like a flood as they are often described. They are like a tsunami,” he said. AN unprecedented mass evacuation was taking place last night ahead of the 280km/ h winds and 3m tidal surge Cyclone Debbie was expected to bring as she crossed the North Queensland coast this morning.
More than 30,000 residents between Bowen and Mackay were given just hours to evacuate as updated storm surge information put them in the potentially deadly red zone.
Queensland Police Commissioner Ian Stewart said Debbie had already claimed one life, in a crash near Proserpine, and authorities were pleading with residents to get to higher ground, urging them to go as far south as Rockhampton, more than 300km away.
“We’ve certainly moved whole towns before, but nothing of this magnitude,” Mr Stewart said. “We’ve moved virtually whole suburbs as well but again, this is right across Mackay because of the unique landscape and low lying areas.”
Mr Stewart said residents travelling south should go “at least” as far as Rockhampton.
“We don’t want to lose one Queenslander as a result of this cyclone,” he said.
Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk said she was “very concerned” at the prospective tidal surge in Mackay, adding: “I need these ( evacuation) steps to happen to keep people safe. I’d rather these precautions ... than have people’s lives at risk.”
Ms Palaszczuk said the winds in the Townsville area could be as strong as during Cyclone Yasi, the Category 5 terror that crippled Tully and surrounding districts in 2011.
“These winds are going to be severe and we are going to see structural damage,” she said.
Debbie, which was upgraded to a Category 4 cyclone at 8pm yesterday, is tracking to score a direct hit on Bowen and the Whitsundays.
Its eye was expected to slam into the coast about 10am today.
Sugar cane fields have been flattened and creeks and rivers are flash- flooding under teeming rain. The main street of Airlie Beach was deserted by 3pm yesterday with shops sandbagged and windows taped up.
Tides appeared excessively low in the harbour ahead of the “worst- case scenario” with Cyclone Debbie due to hit near high tide, pushing a 3m- high tsunami- like storm surge.
Hundreds of backpackers were yesterday taken by bus to Mackay away from the direct impact zone of the core.
Supermarkets and bottleshops did a huge trade as locals stocked up on food and drinks to ride out the coming tempest.
“We’ve been doing a roaring trade,’’ said a bottleshop worker at Cannonvale. “It’s bigger than New Year’s Eve. Everyone is stocking up like it’s the end of the world. This is going to be one wild cyclone party.”
Honeymooners Christian and Renee Zelvis, of Sydney, drank beers in a pool at Pinnacles Resort in defiance of the looming storm.
“It was a disaster for our wedding guests who had to get back home. But we’re going to have a howler of a good time,” Mr Zelvis said.