Bushfire victim Paul Bosveld saw the remains of his home and said he was 'going to travel through life a bit lighter from now on'.

Firefighters worked throughout the night to control a fierce bushfire, which razed 68 homes near Perth.

Bushfires that destroyed at least 59 Perth homes and forced hundreds of people to flee for their lives continued to burn last night.

The Bruce Highway south of Cairns is a road to hope and despair.

The summer of 2011 was already going to go down in Queensland's history for all the wrong reasons.

A stormchaser has told how he tied himself to a tree, strapped on a helmet and went into the core of Cyclone Yasi.

Only a freakish combination of weather conditions could see a storm with the force of Cyclone Yasi reach New Zealand.

Cyclone Yasi, despite causing massive damage, did not leave anyone dead or seriously injured.

Personal stories of how Kiwis hunkered down as Cyclone Yasi surged through north Queensland.

The Queensland town of Tully is emerging as one of the worst-hit with estimates that half the homes are damaged.

Shoppers may be forced to fork out up to $13 a kilo for bananas as 90 per cent of Australia's crop may have been wiped out.

Messages from Twitter and Facebook as north Queensland wakes up to the devastation of its worst battering in recent history.

Former Auckland police officer Sandy Beckett said he would rather take on a crocodile than sit through Cyclone Yasi.

Former Tall Black Phill Jones converted his master bedroom's walk-in wardrobe into a virtual bunker to protect his family against Cyclone Yasi.

'The most serious cyclone you can have' is how Queensland Premier Anna Bligh is describing the storm set to ravage the state tonight. The storm has been upgraded to a Category Five cyclone - the most severe level imaginable.

Thousands of people are fleeing their homes and hospitals are being emptied as severe tropical cyclone Yasi bears down on the north Queensland coast.