Three thousand people are still trapped on the Whitsunday Islands after Cyclone Debbie, as evacuation is continually hampered by bad weather.
Reports from the islands indicate that food and drink supplies are dwindling, with news.com.au reporting that guests on Daydream Island have been rationed a single bottle of water until evacuation teams arrive.
The Whitsundays were devastated by Cyclone Debbie as it passed over on its way to the mainland.
Whitsundays absolutely smashed by Cyclone Debbie, leaving path of destruction as she made her way to the mainland. @ShannonMM9 #9News pic.twitter.com/Oh5HdDGHKT
— Nine News Queensland (@9NewsQueensland) March 29, 2017
A guest staying on Hamilton Island told the Courier Mail that the island looked like a warzone after the cyclone came through.
Boats washed ashore, houses without roofs, windows smashed in, trees snapped in half, gum trees torn out of the ground and those that do remain standing, are bare and lifeless. The wind gusts were so ferocious, they sounded like freight trains passing by. The concrete walls were shaking non-stop all day.
According to the Whitsundays Times, some have used the storm damage as a cover to loot local shops, with local businesses reporting goods being stolen.
“Leave town, you are not welcome in the Whitsundays if you want to do that,” Banjos chef Damien Rogers told the Times, after thousands of dollars worth of supplies were stolen from his shop.
“This is the biggest cyclone I have ever seen and for someone to go around stealing while people are locked down, you are lower than dog shit as far as I’m concerned.”
The Hamilton Island Facebook page confirmed last night that additional flights would be leaving from the airport today, and that guests should expect delays.
Source: news.com.au.
Photo: Getty Images.
