Dusty inland dazed by taste of the tropics

OUTBACK towns more accustomed to duststorms than tropical cyclones were battered as Yasi tore down signs and trees.

OUTBACK towns more accustomed to duststorms than tropical cyclones were battered as Yasi tore down signs and trees, damaged buildings and flooded roads.

Hundreds of kilometres from the sea, residents could not believe they were being hit by a "tropical" cyclone that cut off towns last night.

Cyclone Yasi -- downgraded to category 2 -- passed through the farming communities of Charters Towers, Hughenden and Richmond. The storm was due to hit the mining town of Mount Isa last night.

In Richmond, a couple of hours' drive east of Mount Isa, police cleared the roads and residents sought protection inside as the unprecedented winds came through the town at midday.

Although trees were torn down and signs damaged, locals remained calm and were just prepared to sit and wait.

Most mines in the region had been shut down or scaled back to deal with the cyclone.

Police had urged residents of Richmond, Mount Isa and Hughenden to take the threat seriously.

Police superintendent Ray Pringle said locals were used to flash flooding and heavy rains due to the wet season, but not the high winds of a cyclone.

Many residents had been stocking up on water and food at the local supermarket.

"I cannot even believe this may happen," one local said.

"Isa is not built for a category 1 cyclone. We are not built for a cyclone at all; we are 1000km away from the coast."

One family in Richmond sought refuge at the local road-house, which was still open after the wind brought down its signs, and were playing Yahtzee to pass the time.

Dwayne Maluga, who left home and took his children to the roadhouse, said: "We are covered by insurance so we thought we would not stick around."

The owner of the roadhouse, Judy Fraser, who was watching the cyclone warning on television, laughed when the emergency authorities referred to the area as the "tropical interior".

"They call us the tropical interior? Tropical?" she said.

Later in the day, the rain that followed the cyclone cut off roads and towns, leaving residents stranded.

Fast-flowing rivers and creeks broke their banks and swallowed up roads in their path.

The small hamlet of Homestead, which has a general store and a town hall, became isolated in the early evening after the surrounding rivers overflowed.

Dozens of families, truck drivers, emergency workers and The Australian were stranded in Homestead last night.