We were in Proserpine which, as it turns out, was right in the path Debbie took.
Locals made all the necessary preparations. Shops, service stations and bottle-oes were busy, but closed their doors soon after midday on the 27th and the town became silent except for the drum of rain and the gush of winds that steadily increased through the afternoon and following night.
By 2:30am the wind was strong enough to worry us out of our beds to huddle round the radio. By 3:00 the power was off. Daylight took forever to come, but when it did, the light was feeble, fighting its way through the clouds that turned it an ominous and heavy grey.
The eye was passing just to the north of us and Debbie was decreasing in strength after crossing the coast. She had given Bowen, the Whitsunday Islands and Airlie Beach a severe beating en route.
Wednesday morning arrived and the rain continued to pelt down, but now the wind was really only a brisk breeze. Gradually throughout the morning there were short breaks and locals limped out to assess the damage and lick their wounds. By afternoon the sound of the wind had been replaced by the sound of generators and chainsaws being fired up. The clean up began. With the rain, flooded roads and so much debris everywhere most people did not venture from their streets. With no communication with the outside world, or even with those living in the surrounding area, we could only wonder at how everyone else had fared. We considered ourselves extremely lucky. The house came through intact apart from minor damage like down pipes blown away. We had had to continually mop up water throughout the big blow as the force of the wind blew rain in around windows and doors, but that was nothing compared to what others had to cope with.
By nightfall we were ready to sleep, but the weather gods had not finished with Proserpine yet. During the night they struck again. Lightning flashed fast and furiously, and thunder rolled and bellowed and roared and belched and cracked the sky open as rain fell like the waters of Niagara Falls. It was unbelievable. The mother of all storms, almost as terrifying as the cyclone we had just survived, persisted for hours.
Just as we were considering rounding up two of each animal, the storm rolled off into the night, trailing the odd flash of light and occasional belch of thunder to remind us of its power.
Morning revealed the extent of the lashing, with more toppled trees and plants and missing roof pieces, and a flood line reaching much higher than during Debbie. We ventured into town and it was heartbreaking to see how much havoc had been wreaked. The two supermarkets opened, but they had sparse supplies. Showers became less frequent during the day, until by afternoon the sun broke free and set in a blaze of glory behind the leafless trees still lucky enough to be standing. So ended day 2 AD.
The sun spent the day crossing a clear sky, drying the hundreds of towels appearing on clothes lines and beating down on the backs bent clearing and dragging debris to footpaths. The council began collecting the green waste in earnest, but the piles rose faster than they could clear. The road from the north opened and supermarkets had supplies coming, with ice being the biggest attraction. A line of cars snaked for a kilometre waiting patiently to buy fuel to run generators. Emergency services were doing an incredible job, door knocking and checking on every house, clearing/patching dangerous situations, working on power lines. Mobile phone services were restored. The road to Airlie Beach opened and the army began providing drinking water to the ravaged village. Helicopters buzzed carrying out rescues and assessments, and chainsaws continued to clear fallen trees and branches.
Meanwhile Debbie continued south, dumping more and more water on the state. Our house, beside a golf course on the Albert River, came under threat of flooding as the floodwaters rose higher than we had ever seen in our 30 years of living there. Our daughter and our neighbours kept us up to date with photos, but thankfully the water halted at our front yard. Many others in Logan were not so lucky.
And still Debbie rained down as she worked her way into New South Wales breaking flood records on and on.
Another day of sunshine, but at last a cool change in the weather meant a better night's sleep last night and a slightly better temperature to work in. The grass is growing like wildfire. Cleaning up continued and some return to normality seemed in the air as people began mowing where yards were cleared enough and the ground dried out enough.
The road south opened today allowing more help and more supplies into town.
We booked train tickets home for Wednesday night. There was only one seat left so we had to take sleeper beds.
We took a drive to Airlie Beach, which mirrored the devastation in Proserpine. Houses stood up surprisingly well on the whole, which says a lot for modern building standards. It was mostly older homes that were badly damaged. As in Prossy, fences and garden sheds were flattened everywhere, and trees that were lucky enough to still stand were denuded of foliage. Power poles had fallen like dominoes along the road and we could see why Ergon workers were stretched to their limits.
We heard on the radio that Rockhampton was expecting record flooding with the peak expected next Wednesday night. Debbie!!!!!! Looks like no train ride home for us after all.
The piles of debris on footpaths in our street were cleared today. The council is doing a mighty job working its way through the streets. An army of Ergon workers is doing an equally incredible job clearing fallen power lines, erecting fallen power poles and, bit by bit, turning power back on to isolated pockets around town. We know this because we hear whoops of joy and see street lights glowing in the distance. And we see big smiles around town just bursting to spread the news.
As Rockhampton readied itself to be inundated with water we gritted our teeth and cancelled our train tickets, but were able to book a flight home for Thursday.
Power was restored to our street this afternoon, which caused much excitement. Generators quietened and washing machines went into action washing the hundreds of towels that had been used to mop up water soaked interiors during Debbie.
Day 8AD - Wednesday:
Power was restored to quite a few shops in the Main Street today. Many were happy to see some banks re-open. Many more were happy to see some pubs re-open.
Day 9AD
Today we finally farewelled Proserpine and caught a flight home. We felt a bit flat and washed out after running on adrenaline for so long, but we were all Debbied out and glad to be home.