Blacks Beach residents Susanne and Paul ‘Gus’ Gurry, their son Louie, 18 months, and Susanne’s mum, Jan Norton, who lives nearby, were bunkered down with their three dogs when The Standard spoke to them on Tuesday morning. 

They lost power at 11am Tuesday and were expecting the cyclone to hit land around midday.

“An almighty blast of wind just came through and the rain is sideways,” Mrs Gurry said at 11.15 am. 

“It’s a bit scary. The houses in our block have been evacuated. We’re up a bit higher so we’re OK. 

“The houses over from us are prepared for the storm surge that's coming. We got a text message at 6pm last night from the council to evacuate if you were in that zone.

“We’re just lucky we’re up that bit higher – 25,000 (received text messages) last night to evacuate their home. It was pretty scary to be out on the road yesterday.

She said the rain and wind picked up on Monday afternoon.

“During the night you could hear it howling; it sounded like a lady screaming,” Mrs Gurry said. “It’s a really high-pitched squealy wind. It’s relentless and the rain became very heavy. I got up during the night to check our garage door hadn’t come in.”

The family members from Warrnambool and Port Fairy know what to expect having faced cyclones Louie in 2010 and Yasi in 2011.

“The tidal surge is coming,” Mrs Gurry said. “We’re going to have a high tide that’s 5.9 metres and then they’ve got all the rain coming and it’s going to hit at the one time.

“Some areas they’re worried we might get a couple of extra metres on top of that. Those towns that are low lying are going to wear that.” 

Mrs Gurry was sent home from her job at a social worker at 11am on Monday. The mine at Hail Creek. an hour and-a-half west of Mackay where Mr Gurry works was shut down so its workers could prepare. 

“It’s going to cop some wind out there and the waters a problem,” she said. “They might not have got home if they had have waited longer. The roads get cut off and it’s too dangerous to be out in the wind.”

The couple spent Monday stocking up on non-perishable food, freezing bottles of water, buying fuel for the generator and making sure torches, batteries  and radios were on hand.

“We brought in anything from outside that could be a missile,” Mrs Gurry said.

She said she was nervous a neighbouring trampoline was going to come through their house. “I’m just hoping they’ve got it tied down. A couple of houses down they’ve got their boat tied to a tree.”

Mrs Gurry said they were well prepared. “We’ve just got to wait now and see what happens,” she said.

“I feel for the people in Midge Point. They’ve said anyone whose house is older than 1985 probably isn’t going to make it in the low lying areas.

“At Proserpine they’ve said the same thing. They’re not sure if it’s going to turn into a category five (cyclone) when it hits land.”

Former Warrnambool residents Pete and Jess Stapleton have had their first cyclone experience in Cannonvale, near Airlie Beach.

The couple moved to the town last year with children Adah, 4, and Levi, 2, for work.

Mrs Stapleton said they lost power at 9pm Monday. "Overnight was quite scary," she said. "It was very loud with lots of strong wind and rain, we could hear things being blown about. We didn't get much sleep."

In the morning, they were relieved to find some water damage in the bedrooms and trees down at their home.

When The Standard spoke to them about 3pm Tuesday the family said they were in the calmer eye of the cyclone, but conditions were beginning to pick up again.

"We are preparing for the next wave to hit in the next few hours. More damage could happen," she said.

Mrs Stapleton said as their home was well above flood levels, they didn't need to evacuate and decided it was safest to remain at home.

In preparation for the cyclone, the family covered the windows with cardboard, moved all outdoor items inside and furniture away from windows.

They packed an emergency box with food and essential supplies and filled the bath and buckets with water.

She said they were told to "prepare for the worst" and advised not to go out during the extreme weather. The family have kept informed via hourly radio and Facebook updates.

"The feeling in our street is good. All the neighbours have checked on each other and are sharing food and generator power. Apart from lots of trees down and some roof leaks, our street seems fine so far.

"This is our first cyclone but we know we will be fine and will deal with anything that comes from it. We have stayed calm and just have to wait it out," Mrs Stapleton said.