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Hundreds of Kiwis in Australia were last night caught in the path of Cyclone Yasi. Here is how some waited for the hit.
'I'VE NEVER BEEN SO FRIGHTENED'
Former Auckland police officer Sandy Beckett said he would rather take on a crocodile than sit through Cyclone Yasi.
"You can fight the crocodiles off and you know they are dangerous and you don't go near the sharp end. But the cyclone's going to smash us and there's nothing we can do about it," he said from his Cairns home yesterday.
"I have experienced many things as a policeman but I have never been so frightened for my family as I am today, and want this over and done with as soon as possible."
Mr Beckett said the atmosphere before the cyclone's arrival was "surreal".
He has experienced cyclones before, but nothing close to a category 5.
"When we saw the size of it I didn't think it would stay at category 4 for long. Doesn't matter much to us the difference between 220 and 300km/h, you're going to get smashed anyway. It is scary when you're talking that sort of speed.
"And it doesn't matter where it's going to hit, it's got an 800km-wide front, it's going to smash everything."
Mr Beckett and his family were last night at home, waiting the cyclone out.
"We've got nowhere to go. They've evacuated 30,000 people, so there's nowhere to go. It's quite amazing when you think of that many people being moved out."
He has stocked up on supplies and has a satellite phone, generator and gas cooker for when the power goes out.
"I have moved the kids' sleeping areas closer to the end of the house that will not be affected by a possible toppling of a 150-year- old mango tree that would crush that end of the house. I don't know what else I can do but wait."
STAYING PUT AND HOPING
New Zealander Matt Thompson last night realised it was too late to run from the storm and everyone had to stay put and prepare.
"There's no traffic at all because there's been a warning out today that you're not allowed to drive around. The only person we've seen is a man who came knocking at our door to make sure we're all prepared. He let us know that if fire alarms go off we can't leave the building, we just have to stay inside.
"If it gets really bad and all the windows go, we've got to move into the stairwell of the building and hide in there until it's over."
He said they have been warned not to go outside during the eye of the storm.
"If the eye of the storm comes over Cairns, no one's allowed out. The eye is going to take an hour to pass, so if the cyclone lasts for five hours and then it's calm, then you're not allowed out because it's the eye. You have to wait until you get an update."
Mr Thompson and his partner, Fiona Jarden, have moved from his home to a friend's apartment on the third floor in a building four blocks back from the water's edge.
"We should be pretty safe. But we've got the windows taped up, a gas-cooker, batteries, torches and everything so we're prepared. It's far better to be over-prepared than under-prepared because none of us have been though a cyclone before so none of us have any idea what to expect."
He said everyone seems anxious, nervous and excited for the cyclone to hit.
"I haven't really met anyone who's too stressed about it because everyone's pretty prepared because the warning system's so advanced ...
"We're all sitting around playing cards, just waiting for it to hit. But there's no one to be seen and no cars on the street."
WAITING FOR THE HIT
Christchurch woman Louise Moevao moved to Cairns not long before the September 4 earthquake hit her hometown. But yesterday she was battening down for something much worse.
"We thought we were lucky, missing the earthquake," she said.
Ms Moevao was gathered in a house on high ground with about 30 other people, waiting for Yasi to hit.
"Most of us live in low-lying homes so we just came to one house to wait it out together," she said.
"It's horrible. It's only 2pm but it feels like it's been 12 hours, waiting is the worst."
Ms Moevao, 34, has experienced other cyclones, but only category 1 and 2.
"This one's going to be a lot scarier. We've put aside a couple of rooms for us all to bunk down in when the storm actually crosses. As long as we're sensible I think we'll be okay.
"We've listened to all the instructions. Everyone that's come here has come with all their perishable things so we can eat them before they go off.
"We've filled up all the containers we can find with water and filled up the bath. The bathroom is full of water.
"None of us really know what to expect. We think there'll be a lot of wind, perhaps it will move the roof of our house. But we're expecting that we're going to be okay."
'IT WAS A MASS EXODUS'
Rush Pathak, who is originally from Wellington, said it was "completely surreal" as everyone fled the city.
"I don't know if you've watched one of those doomsday movies where everyone's running because there's an asteroid or something heading towards the Earth, it was kind of like that. It was mass exodus...
"It's still really bizarre. It's really hard to make out that something massive is making its way over us because it's still sunny outside and I'm in bare feet, shorts and a T-shirt."
He said Cairns was deserted.
"It was mass hysteria yesterday but this morning it was a f***ing ghost town. It was really, really bizarre. The city's completely empty and there was this long line of cars driving in one direction towards the hills.
"There's tape everywhere, there are sandbags everywhere. Some people are staying in, like our neighbours, but most of the rest of the city has been evacuated."
Mr Pathak said there was nothing to do but wait for Cyclone Yasi to arrive.
"We just sat down and had lunch like it's normal everyday life, except everyone's brought together for this mammoth deadly storm ... It is always in the back of your mind. As soon as you get a little bit of wind, you wonder whether it's the wall of wind but then it dies down. Then you get a bit of rain and you think, 'Oh, there it is'. But then it dies down."
'I'M VERY SCARED NOW'
In Townsville last night, Megan Waitai and her family were prepared, but terrified by what they were about to experience.
"We had already made the decision to stay here and I must admit I'm very scared now. You can prepare yourself as best you can but waiting for the unexpected is not a nice feeling," she said.
"I've found it a bit like a rollercoaster ride with my emotions because you know something is coming and all you can do is wait. I'm trying not to let my son see how scared I'm feeling about it and trying to be normal."
Ms Waitai and her partner were in Townsville when Cyclone Larry hit in 2006.
"My partner is a linesman and helped with the reconnection of power when Larry went through so he has seen the kind of damage that can be caused."
But last night, they were just watching and waiting.
"We've been keeping in contact with family back home and will keep doing so until we no longer can. The mobile is fully charged and ready and I suppose that's all we can do."
EVACUATION CENTRES FULL
Blair Whittaker, who is originally from Kawakawa, says he has no idea what to expect even though he was in Cairns when Cyclone Larry hit in 2006.
"There is a feeling of deja vu ... but this is going to be the biggest one ever so we really don't know what it will be like."
As Mr Whittaker waited, he said the weather felt extremely eerie.
"All the birds are chirping and the sun's out. It's just quiet and still. It's such a nice day that you really can't imagine that it's going to get as crazy as it does."
He said all the evacuation centres were full as terrified people leave their houses.
"If you're not there now you can't leave your house, so you've just got to ride it out the best you can ...
"We've been getting a lot of messages from people saying, 'just leave'. But there's nowhere you can go. With a cyclone that big there's nowhere you can get to in a hurry. You don't know where it's going to hit, so away we go."
He has been evacuated from his home near Cairns' CBD to a friend's house on higher ground.
"It's pretty tense here really, no one's quite sure what's going to happen. But at the same time we're a little relieved that the cyclone's heading further south. All we can do is wait and hope."
LUCKY TO BE OUT
One of the first people to be evacuated ahead of Cyclone Yasi, Tim Roxborough says he feels lucky to be out of the storm's path.
"Everyone is relieved they had the foresight to get out fast. Especially when you see some people in Cairns now, stuck in their homes, trying to get out, having road accidents because of panic."
The former Auckland-based radio host was forced to leave Lindeman Island in the Whitsundays, the first landmass Yasi is expected to touch.
Mr Roxborough, who works for the resort Club Med, said the entire island "packed up" on a perfect, cloudless day.
"That was the surreal thing. It's not like it was windy and raining and everyone was starting to panic. We posed for photos on a blue-sky day, then left, knowing what was coming."
He travelled by boat to the Australian mainland, before taking a 16-hour bus ride to the Sunshine Coast.
The island was now a ghost town, with every hotel guest, staff member and resident - 300 in total - relocated to the mainland.
"No one's left on the island - the first time in 100 years of there being a resort that it's been completely evacuated."
Mr Roxborough said the island had survived a Category 3 cyclone in March last year. "Now it's just time to wait and see."
