Sunshine after the rain!

Well actually…sunshine after the cyclone!!

Over the past couple of days we have enjoyed (and truly appreciated!) snippets of glorious blue sky. Just over a week now since cyclone Debbie hit the North Coast of Queensland and then subsequently moved down along the whole East Coast – right into us!! We hadn’t really understood or felt the severity of the damage until this week when we set out exploring again…

Rewind….We were parked up in Ballina enjoying the scenery, checking out the coastline and planned to stay 2 nights before heading up to Byron Bay. Having heard of the approaching cyclone on the radio and also on the various weather channels and apps we have, we considered our options and went over and over and over them again. What a difficult decision to make! The cyclone had hit the shores up North already, with considerable force. We could literally see the swirling nature of the cyclone on the radar…and it was moving South. We anticipated a day and half before it hit Ballina. The weather forecast and warnings were severe for 800km South and 500km inland. We’d asked some locals if they were concerned about the imminent cyclonic attack and no one seemed too fussed “ohhh…we might get a little rain” they said! Frank with his inner weather radar was without a doubt 100% confident it would hit. I was a little relaxed thinking…nahh…it’ll miss us! We extend our stay at the van park as we atleast felt a little settled and somewhat safe there, being on highish ground and with other people around. We figure we’ll watch the weather radar and decide what to do in the morning, hoping that the cyclone loses momentum.

The next morning comes around and we are already seeing grey skies, a little rain and the weather channels have now put out severe weather warnings for our area. We study the forecast in other towns and realise that even if we leave now, it’s still going to catch us somewhere. We decide to stay.

Local radio turned on, towels and buckets in preparation, we try to enjoy the morning, knowing that we are sitting and waiting for a cyclone to hit. According to the forecast, by afternoon the rain and wind will pick up, by dinner time it will be heavier and stronger winds, by midnight it’ll be severe, it’ll peak at 3:00am at which point we will enjoy the calm of the eye of the storm, then from 4:00am onwards it will change direction and come with even greater force.

A rather unsettling set of information, when you are residing in a van!

Nothing could have prepared us for the experience that entailed. Thrashing winds, rain coming literally sideways as it whipped through the air, the van moving side to side like someone was trying to push it over. And this was all before the worst of it had even come close! We have some dinner, listen to the latest radio update, try to settle the dogs and attempt to go to sleep. 9 hours of this weather and the lead up to it had me exhausted. Frank sitting upright in bed, going between studying the weather radar and staring into rainy oblivion through the front window! “Try and get some sleep darling” I say….as if!

Midnight comes around and it is just relentless. The radio warnings are to stay put. I figure if it gets really bad, we will hear an evacuation warning. 1:00am comes around and the van is being thrown side to side. It’s like being trapped on a scary ride for hours on end, not knowing what’s coming. I climb through into the front cabin to have a look at what’s going on outside, if the immediate area around us is flooding and to see if our van has moved. It honestly felt like we could be sliding sideways, in which case we would end up against a small fence, then off an embankment and into the river that joins the ocean. The wind is so ferocious coming from the North that I am actually concerned the windows may blow in, so I pop in our covers. I am trying my absolute best to be cool as a cucumber so ease Frank’s worry, as those who know us know that he is a worrier and I am the “oh it’ll be fine” type personality! I say to Frank, “if we see those large rubbish bins and that dumpster move, then we know this is really serious”. Oh great he replies, that will really put my mind at ease…

We realise our external power cord is still plugged in from the box outside. I make the executive decision to leap out of the van and turn it off. The last thing we need is a live power cord flying around in all this rain! I struggle to get back in and close the door as the wind is so forceful. Back to bed. We doze a little and wake at around 3:00am, where it is scarily silent. No rain, no wind. Then like a freight train WHOOOOSHHHH the weather changes direction and comes lashing from the South. Straight onto the back doors and windows of the van, right where our bed is. With even more force and ferocity than before, I am actually worried now. Before I was worried about the van sliding….I am now worried about the van flipping.

I jump out of bed, climb through the front, remove the window covers, look outside and oh no…my rubbish bin test scares the hell out of me. The dumpster has smashed into the toilet block wall and the 2 large bins are tipped over and have been thrown meters. This is not good. Frank is now out of his upright coma position, head in the front, trying to assess my mood and reaction. Still trying my best at the cool cucumber, I calmly say “what’s the worst that could happen?? If we feel really unsafe, we can grab the dogs, jump out and hide in the toilet block for the rest of the night.” The look on Frank’s face tells me that he is questioning my sanity right now. But in all seriousness, it’s not like the van is going to wash away. We are up high enough and the van weighs enough. I am somewhat thankful for my blasé  but rational attitude right now.

As ridiculous as it sounds, with all the ferocity of the storm, wind and lashing rain against the back doors, nothing but 10cm of van door between me and the storm…I manage to fall asleep!! I presume Frank will remain in his upright on guard position, weather app in hand, but actually he manages to get a little shut eye also.

6:00am, first light and it is still howling. We hear on the radio that 20,000 people from surrounding towns have been evacuated. Roads are flooded and closed and still…the rain continues. 36 hours later, we finally are able to step out of the van without rain. The wind is still almost impossible to walk in, but it is enough for us to let the dogs out, stretch our weary bodies…and run to the corner store for an egg and bacon roll!! Priorities right?!

We chat to other van park residents and compare stories before extending for yet another day, as there is no way we are driving anywhere with all of this going on.

It’s not until later in the day that we hear about the havoc that Cyclone Debbie has wreaked on the East Coast, and it’s not until leaving Ballina that we see it for ourselves.

All the beaches along the coast are destroyed. A king tide and 5m waves have ravished the coastline. Sand dunes washed away, logs and whole trees washed up on the shore. The rockpools we had been exploring – gone. Covered in sand or simply stripped bare. It goes on for kilometres. Days after leaving Byron Bay we head inland. Paddocks are now lakes. We hear of a horse that has swam for who knows how far, exhausted and ends up floating into the entrance of a house. Rivers have more than broken their banks, they have simply engulfed everything in their path.

We stumble across a town where most of the stores in the main street are still closed, due to flooding. One of the stores that is open, has a sign inside showing how high the water had reached. It was up to my waist!! That was after walking up 3 stairs to enter the shop. A local man stops to chat and tells me how he saw fridges floating down the main street like they were eskies. In this town, they were the lucky ones he tells me.

We continue on and to see some roads still closed, others being cleaned up, more destroyed beaches, a thick foam and ferocious ocean. We see the back of a car poking out of the flooded edge of a road. Up in the hills of Currumbin, people’s houses have been swept bare from the flood waters. The mountain rockpools that were once blue are now brown, one of picnic gazebos is covered in debris and the other is gone!

We continue on as the weather settles and the sun comes out to start the big dry off. Now in Tweed Heads, we are pleased to see the ocean has calmed and today I was able to take a swim. Floating on my back, toes just catching a glimpse of the sun’s rays, I stare up at the blue sky, take a deep breathe and smile, as I think how lucky we were to dodge any harm and how never in our wildest dreams did we think we would be living in a van…when a cyclone hit!

JT xo