We survived Cyclone Oswald (January 2013)

Believe it or not, we just survived Cyclone Oswald, 5 tornadoes and severe flooding.  Dennis, myself and our boat, Lardo are OK.  We were returning from a road trip when we got word that a cyclone with monsoon rains and strong gale force winds was going to hit Bundaberg (Bundy).  We put the pedal to the meddle and arrived back in Bundy last Friday afternoon from a 12 day road trip to watch the Australian Tennis Open in Melborne and to see the Opera House in Sydney.  We arrived at the marina just hours before Oswald really hit.

The cyclone started about 1500 miles up north and struck this area with a punch on Friday – it finally abated on Sunday but it continued down the Australian coastline – it traveled as far south as Sydney – about 1,000 miles south of us.  Many cities along 3,000 miles of coastland were severely damaged by the storm and resulting flooding from nearby rivers.  It was incredible – lost lives, homes, businesses, boats; cities underwater; grocery stores without food; no gas due to a local  tornado (spawned by the cyclone) ripping out the station; raging rivers; no power/water/communication; road closures; trains/airports closed; truckers could not make their food deliveries; schools closed and on and on.  All the locals have told us that this cyclone was not normal and by far the worst storm in over 100 years.  The Queensland flooding that occurred 2 years ago didn’t even compare to this storm.

We were safe in our marina but unfortunately many other boats were not. The marina upstream did not survive the pressure of the cyclone and raging flooding river. We probably saw 75 boats heading downstream with no one on board.  Many of them ended up on the reef or rocks, or hit river pylons and sunk.  We had one hit the end of our dock and had to get it off via brute human leg force.  We saw some horrific crashes where loose out of control boats screaming downstream at 12-14 knots hit boats in the marina. Two boats hit Lorrigray, a 65' sloop, and the sloop (steel) holed the ketch that hit it, and drove right through the dock.  The ketch is now sunk right behind Lorrigray.

Our friends Randy and Jenny (who were with us on our road trip) on Mystic in a nearby anchorage had to set another anchor and keep anchor watch vigil for few nights while the cyclone was raging – a boat in their anchorage dragged and smashed into their boat – fortunately the owner has insurance and no one was hurt.

At one point the marina manager didn't know if the docks were going to survive.  We were told to evacuate our boats and just returned to our boat after 4 days.  A very kind Australian lady, Glenda, took us in while her husband Al remained stranded in a nearby town – he thought he was going to be gone for one day, he was stranded for a week.

The mid-town marina is gone, as well as all docks and boats between the mid-town marina and the Port Marina that we are in.  We have not attempted to drive into Bundaberg because of the intense flooding there.  We will wait a few more days before we do that.  The river has changed course a little bit and now there is a significant current going through the marina, where before the current was outside the marina. 

Bundy was the hardest hit city.  Only stumps and rubble remain where houses once stood on Hinkler Avenue and the Hinkler shopping mall is underwater.  Hinkler Ave leads on to the Tallon Bridge, which could be closed for weeks because of a massive washout.  Roads have been washed away and swallowed by sink holes, and cars have been lifted by the water and deposited against fences and on footpaths, like forgotten toys.  Residents along with patients in a nursing home and hospital were evacuated via military helicopters.  The record flood that saw the Burnett River peak at 9.53 metres inundated 2000 homes and 200 businesses, leaving 7500 residents displaced.  The mud and sewer stench is terrible.

Although the storm has passed, there’s quite an aftermath and the cleanup efforts will be intense.  Everyone we talk to has been impacted and has quite a story of survival and lost; almost too much to take in.  We are very thankful to be alive and to have survived Cyclone Oswald.

The below pictures tell the rest of the story.