HOPE SHINE
dents are saying that they thought the second half of the cyclone that came after the 100km- wide eye had passed just after midnight, was worse than the first.
In the immediate aftermath of Debbie’s passing, home and apartment owners are dealing with damage caused by roofs lifting off in the wind and by trees top- pling over onto houses and cars. Driveways are blocked by fallen timber and entire streets have been turned into no- go zones because of trees and other debris.
Richard Trevaskis, 60, his wife Connie, 41, and their children, Lukas, 7, and Charlie, 5, were out walking, more for something to do after being cooped up for so long, HEARTBREAKING: Owner Dave McInerinty surrounded by debris at his destroyed Shute Harbour Motel. BELOW: Charlie Trevaskis, 5, and her teddy bear Double Bear which she kept safe during the cyclone. rather than out of necessity.
Their driveway was blocked by fallen trees.
Charlie had her 25- yearold teddy bear she calls Double Bear with her. The toy bear once belonged to her mother.
“We had to keep Double Bear safe during the cyclone,” Connie said.
As the Townsville Bulletin spoke to Mr and Mrs Trevaskis at the driveway of their home, three men – Sam Wright, Steve Donnelly and Robbie Brodhurst – turned up with chainsaws, asked what the problem was, and swiftly went to work on the fallen timber and then drove away to help someone else.
The milk of human kindness.
Further on, John Morris, 72, and Robert Buckley, 36, were cleaning up fallen trees in the rain and wondering what to do with 100m of 2m high timber fencing that had blown over on their boundary.
“I don’t mind clearing up in the rain. I just hope that wind has gone,” Mr Morris said.
S e v e n t y - t h r e e - y e a r - o l d Stan Hoy was sawing fallen trees beside a sagging power line cable. Behind him, perfectly intact, was a rusted, corrugated iron shed.
“It’s been here more than 100 years that shed,” Stan said.
“They were timber cutters who built it. They knew how to build sheds in those days.”