Cyclone Debbie meets Delvy

The butane stove is packed away, the shower items by the gravity fed water tank are transferred to the bathroom and the buckets of water beside the toilet and kitchen sink are emptied into what remains of the garden. Two weeks since the arrival of Tropical Cyclone Debbie and the power is restored. I flick the taps and the light switches on and off with much satisfaction: day to day living is now a little easier.

Two weeks on and the weather couldn’t be more different here in the Whitsundays - blue skies, a gentle south easterly breeze and reduced humidity.  It makes us wonder if we really did sustain storm force winds for 24 hours, with gusts up to 267 km per hour (the highest ever recorded in Queensland), plus 600mls of rain. But one look at the surrounding trees, or lack thereof, you can see a trail of destruction. It looks like a bushfire has torn through, minus the charcoal, as whatever trees are still standing have been completely stripped of leaves. What was once a tropical vine forest is now a smattering of brown sticks, interspersed with far flung man made materials like tin and hard plastic. With its sepia tones the landscape is strangely reminiscent of photos taken after the Battle of the Somme.

Chainsaw battle

Thankfully two of our significant trees remain at our Hill Fort, without falling on the house or Delvy, albeit minus a few limbs: the 70+ year old Mackay Cedar and a Milk Pine provide some contrast amongst the flattened forest. Some of my lovely garden surrounding the house will resurrect, after removing countless branches and up righting still intact plants.

Patio garden before TC Debbie

Patio garden after TC Debbie

Our once private hill top retreat is now completely open to the sky, with full 180 degree views of the squashed sugarcane valley below, and many neighbours whose existence we were unaware. Stargazing in the south east and north east sky is sensational, and was made even more so with no lights to mar the viewing.

Balcony view prior

Balcony view after

Reconnecting the power was no simple task. The riser, where the power connects from the Ergon pole to the shed, fell down when the carport covering Delvy blew away. 

Delvy managed to escape relatively unscathed

A team of people had to remove the carport remains, an electrician installed a replacement riser, and Ergon pulled the fuse to make preparations for when the power was ready to restore.

Ergon man

Damage to our buildings is not substantial compared to others, but there are quite a few jobs. The north facing lounge room ceiling has a striking black mouldy strip from water ingress under the roof. The south east bedroom wall also has water damage, and floorboards are buckling. The patio shade cloth ripped to shreds, the chicken coop wire collapsed, paint was stripped from the southeastern sections of the metal balcony, fences broken, and every single downpipe has ceased to be a downpipe. The pergola has been removed after being squashed into the ground. We now have a helicopter landing pad, which would make a great spot for a landscape painter with easel.

My chill out space before Debbie

...after Debbie

What to do with it now?

For days after the cyclone our ridge line echoed with the drone of chainsaws and generators, and the smell of smoke was choking. Our next door neighbour kindly lent us a 1kW generator so we could cool the fridge in the morning and evening. Our food stayed reasonably fresh, and we ate quite well from all the defrosting frozen food. The BBQ did wear a little thin after a while, but we would eat anything after a big day cleaning up.

After spending many hours on the chainsaw, firstly to get out of the driveway and then to clear around the house, there is still so much more timber to remove. Our insurance covers for $5000 of green waste removal, but that will be gobbled up with the removal of the enormous palms, Poincianas and native trees that have uprooted and fallen on the next door neighbour’s fence, our fences or in our yard. The council is currently doing a green waste collection from the street and I have a token pile at the end of our driveway – one thousandth of what is on our property.

Driveway to house prior...

..and after.

One of many uprooted palms and trees

The recovery is slow as man power is needed to get things tidy. It can seem overwhelming to say the least, but sticking to the old adage, how do you eat an elephant? One bite at a time and it will get done.

The wildlife has been slow to show itself but we finally saw a Proserpine Rock Wallaby last night, looking very healthy. Birds not normally seen up here on the hill have been flitting about, and an enormous flock of raucous white cockatoos are now our dawn alarm clock – I hope that is temporary. Numerous Green frogs huddle under the eaves in silent protest - missing our down pipes probably.

Our road before....

...and after.

The chickens are still laying and my eggplant tree has survived and already has new shoots (damn, I was hoping for a change in the veggie patch!); we both still have our beautiful home, and employment, and of course each other. Debbie’s wrath has been felt far and wide down through Queensland and northern NSW, and she even said hello to New Zealand. Two weeks on and although much clean-up has been done there’s still a long way to go.