Cyclone Debbie: We're still cracking jokes as storm hits
THEY might be bracing for the worst cyclone since Yasi, but Queensland locals have not lost their spirit with many determined to keep smiling though the storm.
With the cyclone now upgraded to Category Four and 25,000 people ordered to evacuate Mackay, locals in other parts of Queensland said bottleshops and supermarkets have been flat out.
FOLLOW THE CYCLONE DEBBIE TOPIC FOR THE LATEST
"We've been doing a roaring trade,'' one Cannonvale bottle shop worker told the Cairns Post.
"It's bigger than New Year's Eve. Everyone is stocking up like it's the end of the world. This is going to be one wild cyclone party."
Honeymooners Christian and Renee Zelvis, of Sydney, celebrated in an infinity pool at Pinnacles Resort resort on Airlie Beach.
"We're watching you Debbie,'' Mr Zelvis laughed.
"We might even call our first child Debbie. To my little baby Debbie.
"It was a disaster for our wedding guests who had to get back home. But we're going to have a howler of a good time.''
LIVE SATELLITE IMAGERY OF CYCLONE DEBBIE
EXPLAINED: MACKAY EVACUATION ZONES
Meanwhile Bowen man Graham Wilson spray-painted his face with a message to make people smile.
"Cyclone Debbie bring it on Bowen is not a pussy town do your best you got," he wrote in giant letters.
"Everybody's on edge," he told The Brisbane Times.
"It's basically to put a smile on people's faces. Bowen's a lot bigger than Cyclone Debbie so give us what you've got."
Others took to social media to get some lighthearted relief from the storm saying it was not yet bad enough to "risk gluten free bread".
Cab drivers in Townsville, Mackay, the Whitsundays and Ayr have offered to evacuate locals for free in conjunction with the SES.
Meanwhile Hamilton Island housekeepers, Felicity Guy, 23, and Tessa Duscher, 24, also told the Cairns Post they would party through the storm.
"We can't get out. So we may as well get on it,'' Ms Duscher, of Victoria, said.
"We're going to go to a cyclone party to do some drinking and then we'll go back to a friend's house to sit it out.''
Tasmanian couple Adam Murray, 29, and Micaela Cappelli, 24, plan to spend the night in their campervan which they've tied to a tree at Cannonvale.
"It is fairly well anchored but it's going to be a wild night.''
