Cyclone Debbie

 

Living in the tropics for most of my life, I have seen and experienced many cyclones. We also spent our honeymoon holed up in a balcony room at the Coral Sea Resort on the night Cyclone Ului crossed the Whitsundays back in 2010 where over 80 boats were destroyed and Airlie Beach was without power for nearly a week. These experiences paled in significance behind the fury of Cyclone Debbie.
The Cawood twins were visiting and after snorkelling at Butterfly Bay, visiting Hill Inlet and Whitehaven beach (albeit a little wet) and a night at Hamilton Island, the weather reports had Debbie looking more likely to head our way, so a quick trip home saw us back at Abell Point at lunchtime – a decision we were thankful for, as not long after; the Harbourmaster closed all traffic across the passage. The girl’s flights out on Tuesday were cancelled and although they were not worried about living through a cyclone, coming from Darwin, the possible closure of the airport for weeks was the tipping point. Flights were found at Mackay (90 minute drive), so an early morning start only to have the flights cancelled as we neared the airport. As it was critical for us to have a tight turnaround to get back before the cyclone arrived, the girls used the flight insurance to great effect. Qantas provided a rental car for them and another two girls to drive to Rockhampton to catch a flight home to Brisbane. As it turned out they were home in Brisbane tucked up before we even got back to Airlie.
Steve had already taken all steps in securing Priscalina to the marina and also checked on friend’s boats (both who worked out at the mines) but drove down again to recheck before we bunkered down.
TC Debbie took two days to pass and to experience a cyclone in daylight hours was a first – not an altogether pleasant one though.