Authorities urge residents to evacuate before Cyclone Debbie hits, with houses expected to go under water

THE Queensland town tipped to bear the brunt of Cyclone Debbie, has a cyclone shelter for 800 people. The population is 10,000.

BOWEN, the Queensland town tipped to bear the brunt of Cyclone Debbie when it crosses the coast tomorrow morning, has a cyclone shelter that will house just 800 of its 10,000 residents.

Many residents of the state’s north are refusing to leave their properties as the monster storm bears down, despite warnings from emergency services that most homes in the town were not capable of withstanding cyclonic winds.

SES controller David Thicker told the Courier-Mail most houses in the area were built before 1985, which puts them at far greater risk of destruction than those built in ensuing years.

A 300km stretch of the north Queensland coast is expected to be impacted by the storm, which Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk said is expected to bring even stronger winds than the last to devastate the region, Cyclone Yasi, in 2011.

Directional wind maps show Cyclone Debbie off the coast of North Queensland on Monday morning. Source: earthnull.net

Cyclone Debbie is expected to hit as a category four tropical storm. Category five is the highest severity.

It is gaining intensity as it travels slowly towards the north Queensland coast and was upgraded to a category three storm by the Bureau of Meteorology on Monday morning.

But it is not just the winds expected to pose a threat to lives.

Waves of up to eight metres have been recorded in the seas the storm has passed over in recent days and residents of low-lying coastal areas are particularly at risk.

Learn the facts about #StormSurge here https://t.co/UZ1XCa7yPe Check the high tide times for where you are here https://t.co/PmlxWhKi0c pic.twitter.com/UpQ7eeJBVq

— BOM Queensland (@BOM_Qld) March 27, 2017

“You can shelter from wind but you cannot shelter from (the) storm surge,” Queensland Deputy Police Commissioner Steve Gollschewski said, adding that it could take up to 12 hours for help to get out to people because of the wind speeds.

Remember: when the winds pick up, we can’t be out there. If you call us during this period of time, we can’t respond. #CycloneDebbie

— Katarina Carroll (@QFES_chief) March 27, 2017

Homes are expected to go underwater.

Nonetheless, many residents are refusing to leave their homes, saying they will batten down to ride out the storm.

Authorities are doorknocking homes in at-risk areas, urging residents to evacuate.

Ms Palaszczuk said about 3500 residents had been evacuated between Home Hill and Proserpine, south of Townsville.

Another 2000 had also been told to leave Bowen.

Should the residents decide at the last minute, however, to seek shelter away from their homes, they could be left in a precarious situation.

Cyclone shelters in Bowen and Proserpine each have limited capacity, well below that of their respective populations.

Bowen locals, including Rena Singh and Jim Gaffney, fill sand bags on Sunday. Picture: Lyndon Mechielsen

Whitsunday Regional Council Mayor Andrew Willcox urged residents in low-lying areas to get out.

“If you are unable to evacuate, the Cyclone Shelters in Bowen and Proserpine will be opened on Monday as a last resort,” he said.

“The cyclone shelters have capacity for 800 people each and are only available to those people at highest risk from cyclone effects that have no other option.”

Schools between Ayr and Proserpine are closed as residents brace for the storm to hit.

Evacuations have been ordered in Alva Beach, Groper Creek, Jerona, Wunjunga and some areas of Rita Island.

Bowen Supa Iga store manager Andrew Dasecke unpacking extra water in preparation for Cyclone Debbie. Mr Dasecke said the store also ordered extra batteries, long-life milk and canned stock but by 10am Sunday most of it had gone.

Supermarket shelves across the region are already bare, as residents stock up to ride out the storm.

The Queensland Police Service has also advised those who intend to remain at home to charge their phones, with electricity supplies expected to be cut by the cyclonic winds, and to stock up on any medications required for the next few days.

When Cyclone Yasi hit the coast south of Cairns in February 2011, it cut power to more than 200,000 properties.

A month after it hit, there were still 700 properties without power.

I tell you what #TCDebbie, if you knock the power out for EIGHT days like Yasi, I am going to lose my shit.

— Josh Freeman (@Jengo5674) March 24, 2017