A WIMMERA couple trapped in Hamilton Island during Cyclone Debbie said in the calm after the storm the reality of the devastation has set in.
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Tarranyurk’s Maree and Ray Jaeschke said the fallout from the cyclone was still hitting them.
“Today I’m feeling more emotional,” Mrs Jaeschke said.
“To go out and see the devastation – it’s the whole island, the gums have been stripped of all leaves – it looks like a bomb hit it.
“Palm fronds have all been stripped, there’s a lot of devastation.”
The pair were in Hamilton Island for their niece’s wedding last Saturday and said they were lucky their rented apartment held up to the conditions.
“It was horrible,” she said.
“The sound was like a jet plane roaring past, the wind got up to 262 kilometres an hour on the island.
“We’ve been in lock down since Monday lunchtime, we’ve just stayed put.
“It was like time stood still really.”
Mrs Jaeschke said family on the island didn’t fare as well.
“We went to see my niece’s parents they’re okay but they’ve had a bit of destruction, the house had water coming in,” she said.
“My niece who just got married their house is a mess – they had a tree come through a window and all the other windows were cracked with the wind getting in. They were evacuated.”
Mrs Jaeschke said luckily the pair had communication access throughout the storm along with power and a radio but no television.
She said the are still waiting for their water connection to work again.
“We’re very lucky because we were in a really safe house,” she said.
“We had no water coming into the house so we just had to sit tight, others had to bucket water out of hide in the bathroom – that would have been worse.
“We had a safe corner prepared with cushions in the laundry but luckily didn’t need it.”