Whitsunday Times journalists Jacob Wilson, Inge Hansen and Dane Lillingstone with editor Sharon Smallwood at the makeshift Whitsunday Times office the day after Cyclone Debbie.

NOT even a Category 4 cyclone stood in the way of the resolve of the Whitsunday Times team to keep the region informed.

And while borrowing a power inverter to keep the fridge running, Whitsunday Times and Whitsunday Coast Guardian editor Sharon Smallwood had a light bulb moment.

"We had friends staying with us last night who had to get off their boat, one had an inverter and we trialled a system of running the inverter through one of our company cars and it worked," she said.

"My first thought was that's a way to get the paper out."

On Tuesday as the storm was in full swing, Ms Smallwood said the team went through a tag-team process of posting hourly BoM updates and filing early damage and emergency updates online.

"In the eye of cyclone myself and our journalist (Peter Carruthers) did manage to get photos, I stress I don't recommend anyone go out in the middle of a cyclone, however the eye was over 100km wide so we had quite a time window to get out safely and back," she said.

"So we got those first damage reports, then after the eye passed over us and the other side of cyclone hit it got worse and worse so the devastation was magnified ten-fold by the time we got up this morning."

On Wednesday, the journalists met at the Smallwood residence and recharged laptop and phone batteries via the inverter connected to the car.

Amid the devastation, and now without water as well as power, the journalists shot videos, took breath-taking photos and talked to the local people who went through a rollercoaster 24 hours.

Ms Smallwood said she was proud of the on the ground effort of the team with a diversity of "cracking" stories filed.

"There was a terrible story on looting of an Airlie Beach restaurant and a really gripping story involving the two mermaids at Daydream Island which were washed off into the sea," she said.

"The team also put together fantastic photos and videos on Airlie, Proserpine and Shute Harbour, great photos and videos."

Ms Smallwood also thanked the company's head office team in Queensland's south-east for jumping in to the rescue with uploading stories and images fast and sharing content from other news rooms.

While the Whitsunday Coast Guardian went out to press on Tuesday logistical issues prevented the publication from getting to the Whitsundays, however a solution is being worked out to get both papers here as soon as possible tomorrow.</s>TOWNSVILLE, Australia (AP) — A powerful cyclone slammed into Australia’s tropical northeast coast on Tuesday, tearing down fences, snapping trees and knocking out power to thousands, officials said.

The destructive eyewall of Cyclone Debbie, a Category 4 storm packing winds up to 260 kilometers per hour (160 miles per hour), made landfall near Airlie Beach, a resort town in Queensland state, the Australian Bureau of Meteorology said in a statement.

The town is a jumping-off point for the Whitsunday Islands, a popular tourist destination that has been pummeled by fierce winds that damaged roofs and knocked down palm trees.

Officials warned that the slow-moving storm was likely to hover over the region for several hours before weakening as it moved inland. Queensland Police Commissioner Ian Stewart said the cyclone’s glacial pace had created a “battering ram effect,” with some areas enduring the howling winds and drenching rains for a punishingly long time.

Communities along more than 300 kilometers (200 miles) of coastline were expected to be impacted, he said.

“I suspect before the day is out, we will see a lot of structural damage in the cyclone’s path,” Stewart said.

John Collins, a member of the Whitsundays government council, was sheltering from the storm with his wife and four daughters inside their house in Proserpine, a town south of Airlie Beach. He could see that four of his neighbors’ sheds had been destroyed and every house within eyesight — including his own — had lost their fences. At least four trees had been smashed to pieces.

“It sounds like you got a jumbo jet sitting on the roof of your house,” Collins said by telephone of the wind roaring outside. “It really is so loud. It’s incredible.”

Collins’ wife and two of their daughters were so scared they were hiding under blankets. Meanwhile, one of his other daughters — whom he described as “a real weather nerd” — was enthralled with the storm, and was diligently listening to the radio for updates on its path. The family’s power had been out since Tuesday morning, and they were resigned to several more hours of waiting until it was safe to emerge from their house.

“It’s just going on and on and on,” he said.

Thousands of people evacuated low-lying areas in the storm’s path on Monday. Hundreds of schools were closed on Tuesday and more than 20,000 households were without power by mid-afternoon.

“Conditions have deteriorated rapidly,” Australian Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull said in an address to Parliament. “Take care and stay safe. Be prepared to shelter in place until Wednesday.”

Whitsundays Regional Council Mayor Andrew Willcox said authorities had received 98 requests for help and had responded to most of them.

The storm also poses a serious threat to the farming region’s crops. The area produces a wide range of fruits and vegetables, including tomatoes, mangoes and peppers.</s>Australia’s army and emergency workers headed to areas of tropical Queensland state hardest hit by Cyclone Debbie on Wednesday, finding roads blocked by fallen trees, sugarcane fields flattened and widespread damage in coastal towns.

No deaths were reported after Debbie tore a trail of destruction through Australia’s northeast on Tuesday as a category four storm, one rung below the most dangerous wind speed level, before being gradually downgraded to a tropical low.

Thousands of people took shelter as tourist resorts along the world-famous Great Barrier Reef and coastal areas were belted with wind gusts stronger than 260 km per hour (160 mph). They woke to streets filled with debris.

“It’s been absolutely smashed. You can’t get out or in there’s so many trees down,” Jon Clements, who was holidaying on Hamilton Island in the Whitsundays when the storm hit, told Reuters. “There are hardly any leaves left on any trees.”

Queensland Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk said the worst-hit area was the Whitsunday coast and islands, some 900 km (560 miles) northwest of the state capital, Brisbane. Water was cut to Daydream Island, where there were 200 guests and 100 staff, she said.

At Mackay, not far from the Whitsunday coast, fences and sheds were blown away, rivers were swollen and high tides and heavy swells still pounded the shore on Wednesday, Nine Network television footage showed.

Australian Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull told reporters at the Crisis Coordination Centre in Canberra: “Nature has flung her worst at the people of Queensland. There will be … a lot of damage done now to recover, to clean up, to restore power, to make power lines safe.”

More than 63,000 people were without electricity.

Queensland State Emergency Services Assistant Commissioner Peter Jeffrey said there had been “a limited amount of severe damage”. Campbell Fuller, a spokesman for the Insurance Council of Australia, said it was too early to put a dollar figure on the damage.

A defence force fly-over was scheduled for 9 a.m. local time (2300 GMT Tuesday) to assess the damage, Palaszczuk told reporters in Brisbane.

Hundreds of hectares of sugarcane crops had been flattened, Dan Galligan, chief executive of industry body Canegrowers, said in a statement.

Townsville Airport reopened, although airlines Qantas and Virgin said flights to Hamilton Island, Proserpine and Mackay were cancelled. Ports at Abbot Point, Hay Point and Mackay were closed.

BHP Billiton said in a statement work remained halted at its coal mines in the storm’s path, as did Stanmore Coal Limited.

Heavy fain fell over a wide swath of Queensland on Wednesday as the system moved inland, with flood and poor weather warnings in place statewide.

Only two injuries were reported, police said.

One family near Airlie Beach, over which the eye of the storm passed, had a particularly dramatic night. Palaszczuk said the family welcomed a baby girl who was born inside the Whitsunday Ambulance Station as the storm raged outside.</s>High winds and heavy rainfall batter resorts along Great barrier Reef, with some damage reported.

Coastal areas in northeast Australia were battered by high winds and heavy rainfall on Tuesday as a powerful cyclone, which prompted authorities to urge some 30,000 people to evacuate, hit island resorts along the Great Barrier Reef.

Cyclone Debbie was upgraded overnight to a category four storm, just one rung below the most dangerous wind speed level.

Authorities warned it could reach level five by the time it makes landfall around 2pm local time (03:00 GMT).

Wind gusts of more than 220km per hour lashed resorts in the Whitsunday Islands, where tourists waited out the storm in hotel rooms.

"We're getting some reports already of roofs starting to lift, including at some of our own facilities in the Whitsundays," Queensland Police Deputy Commissioner Steve Gollschewski told Australian Broadcasting Corporation television.

Authorities stockpiled food and fuel, and the army was on standby to deal with the aftermath.

However, as winds cut power to about 23,000 people, emergency response crews were also hunkered down until the storm blew over.

Authorities urged thousands of people in low-lying areas at risk from tidal surges and winds of up to 300 kph to flee their homes on Monday, in what would be the biggest evacuation seen in Australia since Cyclone Tracy devastated the northern city of Darwin in 1974.

However, police told Reuters they were not sure how many people had heeded that advice. Only about 400 people came to cyclone shelters as the winds gathered strength and made venturing outside dangerous.

Ports at Abbot Point, Mackay and Hay Point were shut, Townsville airport was closed and airlines Qantas, Jetstar, Rex and Virgin Australia cancelled several flights to and from the region.

BHP Billiton and Glencore halted work at their coal mines in the storm's path.</s>(TOWNSVILLE, Australia) — Residents of Australia's cyclone-battered tropical northeast emerged from their homes on Wednesday to find roofs lying in their yards, boats flung onto rocks and roads blocked by tangles of fallen trees and power lines, as emergency officials tried to reach communities cut off by the powerful storm.

Cyclone Debbie, which slammed into the coast of Queensland state on Tuesday with winds up to 260 kilometers (160 miles) an hour, weakened quickly as it moved inland and was downgraded to a tropical low by Wednesday morning.

Australia's military sent vehicles, aircraft and supplies to the region, and clean-up efforts were expected to begin later Wednesday. Around 60,000 houses were without power, and several communities remained isolated with no access to communications. Emergency workers were trying to reach those areas to ensure residents were safe, Queensland Police Commissioner Ian Stewart said.

"Nature has flung her worst at the people of north Queensland," Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull told reporters. "It is now our job to make sure that every agency pulls together ... to provide support to the people of north Queensland who have had a very tough day and night."

There were no reports of deaths from the storm. One man was injured after a wall collapsed in the town of Proserpine, Stewart said. He was in stable condition.

Proserpine was one of the worst-hit areas, along with the resort town of Airlie Beach and the town of Bowen. There was also serious damage to resorts on the idyllic Whitsunday Islands, a popular tourist destination, Queensland Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk said. Around 200 people vacationing on Daydream Island were awaiting evacuation, and water supplies were running low.

"There would be nothing more tragic than waking up and seeing walls that have come in from your houses, roofs that have gone off, and debris that is lying across your roads," Palaszczuk told reporters.

At the port of Shute Harbour, 10 kilometers (6 miles) east of Airlie Beach, the storm tossed around 30 vessels onto the rocks, Whitsundays Regional Council Mayor Andrew Willcox said.

Queensland Fire and Rescue Service Commissioner Katarina Carroll said the state emergency services department had received 800 calls for help, and that number was expected to rise as power came back on in communities.

The area produces sugarcane and a wide range of fruits and vegetables, including mangoes and peppers, and farmers were just beginning to check on damage to their crops Wednesday morning.

Farmer Bill Atkinson, who lives 25 kilometers (15 miles) from Airlie Beach, said the storm had battered his property, tearing roofs off sheds, knocking down trees and partially destroying his sugarcane.

"It's going to be sad. It hasn't done (the crop) any favors," he said. "The cane is bent over, the tops are cracked off."</s>TOWNSVILLE, Australia (AP) — A powerful cyclone packing winds of up to 260 kilometers (160 miles) per hour roared across Australia’s tropical northeast on Tuesday, uprooting trees, tearing down fences and knocking out power to thousands, officials said.

Cyclone Debbie, which slammed into the coast of Queensland state as a fierce Category 4 storm, quickly began to weaken after making landfall near the resort town of Airlie Beach, the Australian Bureau of Meteorology said. By Tuesday night, it had been downgraded to a Category 2 storm, with wind gusting up to 155 kilometers (95 miles) per hour.

One man was injured after a wall collapsed in Proserpine, a town south of Airlie Beach, Queensland Police Commissioner Ian Stewart said. The man was taken to a hospital, where he was in stable condition.

The extent of the damage from the storm was not known as night fell across the region, but there were reports of roofs peeling from homes, fences crumbling and trees snapping in half. The idyllic Whitsunday Islands, a popular tourist destination, were hit particularly hard, with one recorded wind gust of 263 kilometers (163 miles) per hour, the meteorology bureau reported.

The slow-moving storm pounded the coastal region for hours, creating what Stewart called a “battering ram effect,” with the same areas enduring the howling winds and drenching rains for a punishingly long time.

Communities along more than 300 kilometers (190 miles) of coastline were expected to be impacted, Stewart said.

Australia’s military was sending vehicles, aircraft and supplies to the region, with soldiers focusing on clearing debris and reopening roads, State Recovery Coordinator Brigadier Chris Field said.

John Collins, a member of the Whitsundays government council, was sheltering from the storm with his wife and four daughters inside their house in Proserpine. He could see that four of his neighbors’ sheds had been destroyed and every house within sight — including his own — had lost their fences. At least four trees had been smashed to pieces.

“It sounds like you got a jumbo jet sitting on the roof of your house,” Collins said by telephone of the wind roaring outside. “It really is so loud. It’s incredible.”

Collins’ wife and two of their daughters were so scared they were hiding under blankets. Meanwhile, one of his other daughters — whom he described as “a real weather nerd” — was enthralled with the storm, and was diligently listening to the radio for updates on its path. The family’s power had been out since Tuesday morning, and they were resigned to several more hours of waiting until it was safe to emerge from their house.

“It’s just going on and on and on,” he said.

Thousands of people evacuated low-lying areas in the storm’s path on Monday. Hundreds of schools were closed on Tuesday and more than 50,000 households were without power.

“Conditions have deteriorated rapidly,” Australian Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull said in an address to Parliament. “Take care and stay safe. Be prepared to shelter in place until Wednesday.”

The storm also poses a serious threat to the farming region’s crops. The area produces sugarcane and a wide range of fruits and vegetables, including tomatoes, mangoes and peppers.</s>A powerful cyclone has slammed into Australia's tropical north east coast, tearing down fences, snapping trees and knocking out power to thousands.

The destructive eyewall of Cyclone Debbie, a Category 4 storm packing winds up to 160mph, made landfall near Airlie Beach, a resort town in Queensland, the Australian Bureau of Meteorology said.

The town is starting point for trips to the Whitsunday Islands, a popular tourist destination which has been pummelled by fierce winds that damaged roofs and knocked down palm trees.

Officials warned that the slow-moving storm is likely to hover over the region for several hours before weakening as it moves inland.

Queensland Police Commissioner Ian Stewart said the cyclone's slow pace had created a "battering ram effect", with some areas enduring the howling winds and drenching rains for a long time.

Communities along more than 200 miles of coastline are expected to be impacted, he said.

"I suspect before the day is out, we will see a lot of structural damage in the cyclone's path," Mr Stewart said.

John Collins, a member of the Whitsundays government council, was sheltering from the storm with his wife and four daughters inside their house in Proserpine, a town south of Airlie Beach.

He could see that four of his neighbours' sheds had been destroyed and every house within eyesight - including his own - had lost their fences. At least four trees had been smashed to pieces.

"It sounds like you got a jumbo jet sitting on the roof of your house," Mr Collins said by telephone of the wind roaring outside. "It really is so loud. It's incredible."

His wife and two of their daughters were so scared they were hiding under blankets. Meanwhile, one of his other daughters - whom he described as "a real weather nerd" - was enthralled with the storm, and was diligently listening to the radio for updates.

The family's power had been out since Tuesday morning, and they were resigned to several more hours of waiting until it was safe to emerge from the house.

"It's just going on and on and on," he said.

Thousands of people evacuated low-lying areas in the storm's path on Monday. Hundreds of schools were closed on Tuesday and more than 20,000 households were without power by mid-afternoon.

"Conditions have deteriorated rapidly," prime minister Malcolm Turnbull said in an address to Parliament. "Take care and stay safe. Be prepared to shelter in place until Wednesday."

The storm poses a serious threat to the farming region's crops. The area produces a wide range of fruits and vegetables, including tomatoes, mangoes and peppers.</s>A powerful cyclone slammed into Australia's tropical northeast coast on Tuesday, tearing down fences, snapping trees and knocking out power to thousands, officials said.

The destructive eyewall of Cyclone Debbie, a Category 4 storm packing winds up to 260 kilometers per hour (160 miles per hour), made landfall near Airlie Beach, a resort town in Queensland state, the Australian Bureau of Meteorology said in a statement.

The town is a jumping-off point for the Whitsunday Islands, a popular tourist destination that has been pummeled by fierce winds that damaged roofs and knocked down palm trees.

Officials warned that the slow-moving storm was likely to hover over the region for several hours before weakening as it moved inland. Queensland Police Commissioner Ian Stewart said the cyclone's glacial pace had created a "battering ram effect," with some areas enduring the howling winds and drenching rains for a punishingly long time.

Communities along more than 300 kilometers (200 miles) of coastline were expected to be impacted, he said.

"I suspect before the day is out, we will see a lot of structural damage in the cyclone's path," Stewart said.

John Collins, a member of the Whitsundays government council, was sheltering from the storm with his wife and four daughters inside their house in Proserpine, a town south of Airlie Beach. He could see that four of his neighbors' sheds had been destroyed and every house within eyesight — including his own — had lost their fences. At least four trees had been smashed to pieces.

"It sounds like you got a jumbo jet sitting on the roof of your house," Collins said by telephone of the wind roaring outside. "It really is so loud. It's incredible."

Collins' wife and two of their daughters were so scared they were hiding under blankets. Meanwhile, one of his other daughters — whom he described as "a real weather nerd" — was enthralled with the storm, and was diligently listening to the radio for updates on its path. The family's power had been out since Tuesday morning, and they were resigned to several more hours of waiting until it was safe to emerge from their house.

"It's just going on and on and on," he said.

Thousands of people evacuated low-lying areas in the storm's path on Monday. Hundreds of schools were closed on Tuesday and more than 20,000 households were without power by mid-afternoon.

"Conditions have deteriorated rapidly," Australian Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull said in an address to Parliament. "Take care and stay safe. Be prepared to shelter in place until Wednesday."

Whitsundays Regional Council Mayor Andrew Willcox said authorities had received 98 requests for help and had responded to most of them.

The storm also poses a serious threat to the farming region's crops. The area produces a wide range of fruits and vegetables, including tomatoes, mangoes and peppers.</s>(TOWNSVILLE, Australia) — Residents of Australia's cyclone-battered tropical northeast emerged from their homes on Wednesday to find roofs lying in their yards, boats flung onto rocks and roads blocked by tangles of fallen trees and power lines, as emergency officials tried to reach communities cut off by the powerful storm.

Cyclone Debbie, which slammed into the coast of Queensland state on Tuesday with winds up to 260 kilometers (160 miles) an hour, weakened quickly as it moved inland and was downgraded to a tropical low by Wednesday morning.

Australia's military sent vehicles, aircraft and supplies to the region, and clean-up efforts were expected to begin later Wednesday. Around 60,000 houses were without power, and several communities remained isolated with no access to communications. Emergency workers were trying to reach those areas to ensure residents were safe, Queensland Police Commissioner Ian Stewart said.

"Nature has flung her worst at the people of north Queensland," Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull told reporters. "It is now our job to make sure that every agency pulls together ... to provide support to the people of north Queensland who have had a very tough day and night."

There were no reports of deaths from the storm. One man was injured after a wall collapsed in the town of Proserpine, Stewart said. He was in stable condition.

Proserpine was one of the worst-hit areas, along with the resort town of Airlie Beach and the town of Bowen. There was also serious damage to resorts on the idyllic Whitsunday Islands, a popular tourist destination, Queensland Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk said. Around 200 people vacationing on Daydream Island were awaiting evacuation, and water supplies were running low.

"There would be nothing more tragic than waking up and seeing walls that have come in from your houses, roofs that have gone off, and debris that is lying across your roads," Palaszczuk told reporters.

At the port of Shute Harbour, 10 kilometers (6 miles) east of Airlie Beach, the storm tossed around 30 vessels onto the rocks, Whitsundays Regional Council Mayor Andrew Willcox said.

Queensland Fire and Rescue Service Commissioner Katarina Carroll said the state emergency services department had received 800 calls for help, and that number was expected to rise as power came back on in communities.

The area produces sugarcane and a wide range of fruits and vegetables, including mangoes and peppers, and farmers were just beginning to check on damage to their crops Wednesday morning.

Farmer Bill Atkinson, who lives 25 kilometers (15 miles) from Airlie Beach, said the storm had battered his property, tearing roofs off sheds, knocking down trees and partially destroying his sugarcane.

"It's going to be sad. It hasn't done (the crop) any favors," he said. "The cane is bent over, the tops are cracked off."</s>TOWNSVILLE, Australia (AP) - A powerful cyclone packing winds of up to 260 kilometers (160 miles) per hour roared across Australia's tropical northeast on Tuesday, uprooting trees, tearing down fences and knocking out power to thousands, officials said.

Cyclone Debbie, which slammed into the coast of Queensland state as a fierce Category 4 storm, quickly began to weaken after making landfall near the resort town of Airlie Beach, the Australian Bureau of Meteorology said. By Tuesday night, it had been downgraded to a Category 2 storm, with wind gusting up to 155 kilometers (95 miles) per hour.

One man was injured after a wall collapsed in Proserpine, a town south of Airlie Beach, Queensland Police Commissioner Ian Stewart said. The man was taken to a hospital, where he was in stable condition.

The extent of the damage from the storm was not known as night fell across the region, but there were reports of roofs peeling from homes, fences crumbling and trees snapping in half. The idyllic Whitsunday Islands, a popular tourist destination, were hit particularly hard, with one recorded wind gust of 263 kilometers (163 miles) per hour, the meteorology bureau reported.

The slow-moving storm pounded the coastal region for hours, creating what Stewart called a "battering ram effect," with the same areas enduring the howling winds and drenching rains for a punishingly long time.

Communities along more than 300 kilometers (190 miles) of coastline were expected to be impacted, Stewart said.

Australia's military was sending vehicles, aircraft and supplies to the region, with soldiers focusing on clearing debris and reopening roads, State Recovery Coordinator Brigadier Chris Field said.

John Collins, a member of the Whitsundays government council, was sheltering from the storm with his wife and four daughters inside their house in Proserpine. He could see that four of his neighbors' sheds had been destroyed and every house within sight - including his own - had lost their fences. At least four trees had been smashed to pieces.

"It sounds like you got a jumbo jet sitting on the roof of your house," Collins said by telephone of the wind roaring outside. "It really is so loud. It's incredible."

Collins' wife and two of their daughters were so scared they were hiding under blankets. Meanwhile, one of his other daughters - whom he described as "a real weather nerd" - was enthralled with the storm, and was diligently listening to the radio for updates on its path. The family's power had been out since Tuesday morning, and they were resigned to several more hours of waiting until it was safe to emerge from their house.

"It's just going on and on and on," he said.

Thousands of people evacuated low-lying areas in the storm's path on Monday. Hundreds of schools were closed on Tuesday and more than 50,000 households were without power.

"Conditions have deteriorated rapidly," Australian Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull said in an address to Parliament. "Take care and stay safe. Be prepared to shelter in place until Wednesday."

The storm also poses a serious threat to the farming region's crops. The area produces sugarcane and a wide range of fruits and vegetables, including tomatoes, mangoes and peppers.
A Category 4 severe tropical cyclone travels over the Whitsunday Islands and crosses the coast of Queensland, Australia, near the town of Airlie Beach.