Winds gusting up to 300kmh, up to 700mm of rain, and surging tides were expected to wreak havoc over a wide area of north Queensland.
Mr Philippa said they had done all they could to prepare for tropical cyclone Yasi, the huge category 5 storm expected to lash the coast at full force between about 1am and 3am today New Zealand time.
Mr Philippa has lived in Queensland for almost 18 years and said he had been through several cyclones, including the massive Cyclone Larry, which devastated the town of Innisfail, near Cairns, in 2006.
But he said Yasi had everyone worried.
"Someone said Larry was a Sunday church picnic compared to this one, and I believe that. This storm's the size of Queensland and is supposed to batter us for 17 to 18 hours."
Forecasters warned Yasi had a front 500km wide and would bring winds of 300kmh when it reached land at 11pm yesterday Cairns time.
The cyclone was also expected to be accompanied by a tidal surge up to 7m high and had been assessed as the worst storm since 1918.
More than 10,000 people have already been evacuated from coastal and low-lying areas, most of them driving south.
Mr Philippa, his wife Christie, children Jake (19) and Chelsea (18) left their riverside home yesterday morning, taking with them the family pets - two dogs and two cats - passports and some food and clothing.
The family had considered leaving Cairns but there were "only a couple of ways out of Cairns and the roads are pretty chocka".
When the Otago Daily Times spoke to him at 3.30pm, Cairns time, the roads were already being closed.
His family and their friend had secured vehicles, filled boats with water to weigh them down and prepared a small room in the basement.
"We've got blankets and food and a barbecue because we could be in there for 24 hours. We've got a generator ready - the power may be off for a week. We've got the bathtubs filled with drinking water."
Mr Philippa said he did not want to think about what would happen if the house was destroyed.
"We're hoping it's not going to be as bad as everyone says ... All we can do is hope for the best and prepare for the worst."
However, the landscape gardener said the cyclone might have one positive spin-off for him: after Yasi "there is going to be a lot of cleaning up to do".
"Anyone with a Bobcat is going to be very, very busy."
