Back home safe and sound

Hi

Wow, what an insane week it has been.

We arrived home last night after having been away for five nights thanks to Cyclone Yasi.

Early last week things were looking pretty grim here

this screen dump was from early on Tuesday morning I think. By later on Tuesday Cyclone Yasi was upgraded to a catagory 5 and was tracking a little further south.

We live just a little south of cairns and by lunch time it seemed we were in the direct path of this massive system so we decided to evacuate while we could. The word from authorities was either leave now or not at all. Having been through this experience with Cyclone Bobby in  Western Australia in 1995 during which my first husband died, I just did not feel up to bunkering down and hoping for the best..

We stayed in Townsville on Tuesday night and then decided to push on a little further south the next morning as they were predicting that the cyclone would now cross somewhere around Cardwell and that areas between Cairns and Townsville would be hit hard.

Accommodation was proving hard to find by this stage as lots of people had chosen to  head south and also emergency services personel were moving in to the area. We ended up having to travel to Rockhampton (just south of Yeppoon) to stay for the night (some 1000km from home).

My husband and I felt physically ill on Wednesday night as we watch the news for any and all information. We had no idea what the morning would bring. We worried for our friends and our home.

As it turns out the area in which we live was spared with only minor damage. The areas of Tully and Cardwell ( a little further south) were not so fortunate. I am sure by now you have all seen the pictures on the news of the devastation to these towns.

We had to wait a few days before we were able to travel home as the roads were cut due to flooding and debree.

I feel extremely grateful to have been spared and my heart goes out to all the families and businesses that have suffered terrible losses. The worry of course is that our cyclone season does not end until April so there is still the very real risk of further cyclones.

We are still cleaning up our yard and unpacking all the things we had stashed away in water proof boxes and cupboards etc last week so it will be a while before I am back online proper and can update my blog and choose the featured blogger for Make It Monday etc.

Thank you to all of you who sent emails and left messages while we were away.

Michelle :-)