‘Good community around us’: Cape Tribulation couple Paul Green and Wilma Perry embrace unexpected new abode after home destroyed by ex-Tropical Cyclone Jasper

Paul Green and Wilma Perry thought their backpacker days were long behind them. But the wettest cyclone in Australian history put paid to that assumption.

Black Palm Cape Tribulation owners Paul Green and Wilma Perry are embracing life in a backpacker's hostel after their home was destroyed during ex-Tropical Cyclone Jasper.

Paul Green and Wilma Perry thought their backpacker days were long behind them, but ex-Tropical Cyclone Jasper put paid to that assumption.

“It’s been hard to be displaced for so long,” Mr Green said, speaking from their lodgings at PK’s resort in Cape Tribulation late last week.

“But I’m thankful to the owners for putting us up. Without them, we wouldn’t have had anywhere else to go.”

Last month, the couple’s nearby Queenslander copped a walloping courtesy of the category two system – and very nearly cost Mr Green his life.

After bunkering down on December 13 ahead of the cyclone crossing the coast, the Black Palm bed-and-breakfast owners sat and waited anxiously.

“It started to get reasonably windy about 1.30 in the afternoon,” Mr Green said.

“I said to Wilma, ‘We’re going to have a sleepless night so I’ll lay down for a minute.’

Cape Tribulation couple Paul Green and Wilma Perry say ex-Tropical Cyclone Jasper "completely changed" the region's river systems and terrain.

But his slumber was soon interrupted with near fatal consequences.

“There was a cracking sound and the next thing I knew I was being showered in glass and this massive tree that had hit the corner of the house where our bedroom was,” he said.

“It took out the satellite dish and the solar hot water system on the roof and the windows all broke.”

The damage was only the start of a nightmare four days for the pair spent in complete isolation from the outside world.

“The wind ramped up again about seven o’clock,” Mr Green said. “By three in the morning the whole house started shaking and we lost the entire back deck.

“The wind just rag-dolled the awning and dropped it, which is how we get into the house.

Ms Perry said her rain gauge recorded 825mm of rain on the first night.

Cape Tribulation residents Paul Green and Wilma Perry's back deck was "rag-dolled" by howling winds during ex-Tropical Cyclone Jasper.

The eerie howls and sound of boulders “the size of mini minors” clapping as they hammered into trees was unforgettable.

“The crashing noises were horrendous,” she said.

“It was like a freight train coming at you.

“Just hearing the bang of the rocks, then crack of the trees …‘Bang! Bang!’”

Without phone or internet, Ms Perry’s children feared for her welfare.

“They had been ringing and couldn’t get through,” she said.

“Two of them live in Cairns and I didn’t know if they were okay either.”

Landslides run for hundreds of metres down cliff faces and into the ocean on the Bloomfield Track between Wujal Wujal and Cape Tribulation.

Fatefully, her first contact with the outside world was with her son, who had flown north for work.

“We were down at the bridge trying to fill in the gaps in the driveway so we could get out,” Ms Perry said.

“We saw someone coming up the driveway and I said, ‘Who’s that?’

“My son is a paramedic and by chance, he was up this way. As soon as I saw him the tears started.

“He showed me some pictures he’d take in the helicopter of the landslides and I said, ‘Holy hell.’”

Nestled in the heart of ancient rainforest, Cape Tribulation is a popular Far North Queensland tourism destination with the industry considered the "lifeblood" of the region's economy.

Since getting off their property, the pair have spent the last seven weeks in the nearby backpackers hostel.

“We’ve got a bed, hot shower, roof over our head,” Mr Green said.

“It’s safe and we’ve got a good community around us.”

While rebuilding their home is their top priority, the couple said repairing Cape Tribulation Road at Noah Range is holding up progress.

“We still can’t get heavy machinery in because of that,” Mr Green said.

“They’re not allowing bigger machinery in unless it’s for the roadworks.

“But once we can start to get materials in and construction crews we can start clearing away the damage.

“We need a new roof, new beams. It’ll take a long time. We’re resigned to the fact that it’ll be at least 12 months.”

Last week, the Insurance Council of Australia (ICA) unveiled its first assessment of the financial toll of Queensland’s disastrous summer.

The ICA revealed the financial toll of Tropical Cyclone Jasper has led to more than 8,000 claims and accumulated insured loss in excess of $200 million.

Originally published as ‘Good community around us’: Cape Tribulation couple Paul Green and Wilma Perry embrace unexpected new abode after home destroyed by ex-Tropical Cyclone Jasper