Cyclone Debbie: Hamilton Island wasn’t evacuated, now its residents are forced to bunker down in the eye of the storm

IT’S the island abandoned to the storm. While other areas were evacuated, Hamilton Island residents have been forced to bunker down in the face of Cyclone Debbie.

HAMILTON Island residents say they have been “stranded” with “literally no advice” on how to deal with Cyclone Debbie as it thunders over them.

While thousands were evacuated on other islands and the mainland, people living and working on the resort island have been told to remain put as winds of 263km/h lashed homes on Tuesday.

Cyclone Debbie was expected to make landfall between Townsville and Proserpine, but a swing south saw Hamilton Island residents directly in the storm’s path leaving no time for residents to evacuate for the mainland.

Dramatic video from Hamilton Island has shown near zero visibility and trees bending in the powerful gusts.

#CycloneDebbie #HamiltonIsland #Australia right now 🚨🌀🚨 #hurricane #storm #weather pic.twitter.com/mEbuwuF7v0

— Raphael Elliot (@rairizarry) March 27, 2017

Whitsunday Mayor Andrew Wilcox said on Tuesday, “Debbie isn’t playing the game here, she’s smashing us.”

The cyclone’s eye began to hit the Whitsunday Islands — including Hamilton — about 7am and is expected to make landfall, near Bowen, around 2pm.

On Tuesday morning, Lissa Morris, who has lived on Hamilton Island for 14 years, told news.com.au she and her husband were bunkered down in a concrete safe room waiting for Debbie to pass.

“It’s frightening, it’s right on top of us now, trees are flying through the sky and I can see massive surf at least six foot high that could rival Bondi,” she said.

“We’ve had cyclones before but nothing like this. It is so noisy. It sounds like half a dozen 747 jets coming through.”

Amazing pictures of Catseye Beach, Hamilton Island in the thick of it. Picture: Revell Norquay/Twitter

On Sunday, major airlines ground flights from the resort island’s airport. But Mrs Morris said no attempt was made to evacuate those on the island.

“If we had the chance we would have evacuated but we didn’t get a chance. We’ve had literally no advice, everyone is literally stranded, no one can get on or off the island,” she said.

“When Yasi came through, and that hit further up north, we were evacuated. But with this one I had a feeling it would come down here and before we had a chance to evacuate, everything was cancelled.

Cyclone Debbie bearing down on the Whitsunday Islands. The eye is just north of Hamilton Island.

“We’re sensible enough to know what to do, but for other people there’s panic. Especially the young staff (in the hotels), I think they thought it would be all fun and games — it might be a learning curve.”

LIVE UPDATES: Cyclone Debbie like ‘World War Three’

On nearby Long Island, closer to the coast, some visitors did make it back to shore.

On Monday, Caroline Murray, the general manager of the Palm Bay Resort on Long Island told news.com.au the island had been evacuated while she stayed behind to prepare for the cyclone to hit.

“I’ve sent all my staff to my house on Airlie Beach while I’ve stayed here,” she said. “Rather than me being worried about everyone else, I just told everyone to go.

“We’re in the process of sandbagging all the beachfront bungalows and getting rid of the outdoor furniture on the pavilion and removing anything that might topple over. It’s really just a process of elimination.”

Not so sunny. Daniel McMahon, staying at the resort, sent in this image of the view at Hamilton Island.

Hamilton Island Resort has been reassuring guests that the buildings have been designed to “withstand adverse weather conditions including cyclones” and that they are “well prepared to batten down the hatches”.

More than 2000 meal packs, including chips and chocolate, and cyclone kits have been delivered to visitors. Late on Monday night, the resort advised guests to “take shelter in the bathroom”.

Tourist Helena Mo is among those taking shelter on Hamilton Island.

“I have never heard gusts of wind howl this loud and this intense before,” she said.

“You can’t help but worry about what’s going to happen next.”

Update for island guests and staff: pic.twitter.com/TlORoWcevX

— Hamilton Island (@HamiltonIsland) March 27, 2017

The helplessness felt by Mr Wilcox was evident on Tuesday morning, as he monitored damage reports as they started flowing in.

“She’s slowed down out there so she can just keep smashing us,” he said. “What would be ideal is for her to either, one, go away, but if not come straight across quite quickly.

“But, yeah, Debbie isn’t playing the game here.”

On Monday, Whitsunday MP Jason Costigan said he was confident guests and residents were in safe hands.

“I had contact with the CEO of Hamilton Island Glenn Bourke yesterday. He assures me everything’s right,” Mr Costigan said.

“They’ve stuck to their script which has served them well.”

Nearby Daydream Island is also activating its cyclone policies and procedures.

“All guests have been advised to remain in their rooms or the main atrium area — which are cyclone rated — for the next 24 to 36 hours depending on the path of the cyclone,” a statement from the resort said.