Cyclone wind, rain ‘terrifying’; ‘trees down everywhere’

To prevent their property from flooding, a former Dunedin couple living in Brisbane say they have had to remove water from their swimming pool three times since ex-tropical cyclone Alfred’s relentless and "terrifying" wind and rain began wreaking havoc last Friday.

Janine and Scott Blacker have been living in Ormeau, between Brisbane and the Gold Coast, for the past 18 years and say they have never experienced anything like it there before.

Mrs Blacker said it was raining constantly, and the noise of the wind was "incredible".

"It’s just a really high-pitched noise, not like normal wind."

She said they had been fortunate to escape damage to their property so far, but others in their neighbourhood had not been so lucky.

"Our friends that all live in Ormeau are without power. They’ve been without power since Friday.

"There’s trees down everywhere. They’ve blown into people’s yards and things.

"We’ve certainly tied the garden sheds down, tied the wheelie bins together and moved everything from outside around the swimming pool into our outdoor area."

She said everyone had taped their windows, and her next-door neighbours had placed sandbags right up against their front door to stop the house from flooding.

"We’ve taken water out of our swimming pool three times now over the last three days — just dropping it by about six inches — because it just keeps filling up and flooding.

"The rain is so heavy.

"And I’ve pulled all the blinds and closed all the doors, just in case something goes flying through the windows.

"There was a family that were just sitting in their living room and they had a tree come through and just about hit them sitting on the couch, and then the skylight blew off and now their house is flooded as well as."

She and her husband had been sleeping during the day and staying awake at night, in case something major happened and they had to evacuate quickly.

The supermarket shelves were emptied by late last week and had to close, and the local hospital where she worked in administration, was also closed on Friday, she said.

"I’ve worked there for 18 years, and on Wednesday we got told Friday we would be closed.

"I’ve never heard of that. It’s just not heard of, you know — an outpatient clinic closing.

"It’s a new building, and so all the staff were offered, if they didn’t feel safe in their houses, they could certainly go and stay in the new building, where it would be a lot safer."

When she went to work on Thursday, she saw only five cars heading north on the the main highway between the Gold Coast and Brisbane, the M1.

"It was really eerie.

"Nobody’s going out and about.

"It’s been terrifying. It’s gone on for days.

"I’ve never experienced anything like this before."

The slow-moving cyclone was expected to continue to pound the area today as well.