"WE'VE come a long way, baby," Eddie Hollyoak said with a belly laugh, as he summed up life at his Tully Heads property since cyclone Yasi hit.
Despite police warnings to evacuate, he and his wife Claire decided to stay in their home during the cyclone and have remained there since. "We've no water, no electricity, but the landline came back on this morning," Mrs Hollyoak said yesterday.
Like many whose homes lie between the north Queensland towns of Innisfail and Cardwell, the Hollyoaks are learning to make do with basic rations.
Advertisement: Story continues below
Staying out and remaining cheerful ... Eddie and Claire Hollyoak in their cyclone-ravaged backyard. Photo: James Brickwood
The couple are cooking on a small camping stove rescued from their caravan, which was destroyed by Yasi, and have been surviving on jerry cans of drinking water dropped off by the army over the past two days.
First assessments by emergency workers suggested the category five cyclone destroyed 150 homes and left 650 more uninhabitable.
"Since it hit I've not been eating that well and have lost four kilos already and I know there are lots other people from here in the same boat," said Mr Hollyoak, who is 70. "But at least we've got a home and roof above our heads so we're doing better than many."
As for washing, the couple have resorted to "Pommy showers" with a bowl of water and a flannel.
Community centres have been set up in Tully, Cardwell and Palm Island, where people can speak to Housing Department officials, Centrelink workers, Red Cross volunteers and insurance company representatives.
At Tully there was a queue to the centre, and several people who arrived after lunch were given a number and told to return today.
"It's frustrating that you've got to wait so long," said Sue Walton, who was waiting to sign on for Centrelink benefits. "But when you look around Tully and see how bad it has been hit there's going to be a big demand."
About 50,000 properties were still without power last night, though every suburb of Cairns now has electricity. There are still 20,000 homes in Townsville without power, and Ergon Energy said it would take weeks for Tully, Cardwell and Mission Beach to be reconnected.
More than 2000 electricity workers, including teams from NSW and Victoria, have been repairing the system.
Meanwhile, the Queensland Housing Department is preparing to make caravans and demountable homes available to those who wish to remain on their properties.
"Teams from the SES and QBuild are looking at which houses can be made safe to live in with minor repairs," the Housing Minister, Karen Struthers, said yesterday. "For Queenslanders whose homes will take longer to rebuild, we will be working with them on a case-by-case basis to get them temporary housing that meets their needs.''
The army arrived in force yesterday after the Bruce Highway reopened overnight.
An Australian Defence Force spokesman, Andrew Herrnan, said engineers were making assessments about which areas needed the most help.
''You will see a lot more action happening in the area in coming days. We have some prioritising we have to sort out.''
Like thousands of other north Queenslanders, the Hollyoaks remain stoic. The couple, who retired to Tully Heads from Strathewen in Victoria four years ago, are determined to remain in their home no matter how long it takes for normal services to resume.
"We lost 40 friends in the Black Saturday bushfires, so while the cyclone has caused terrible damage, we're just grateful it didn't take any lives,'' Mr Hollyoak said. ''That's the main thing."
He said that keeping a sense of humour was his most important survival tip. "I thought you boys were judges for Queensland's prettiest town. I think Tully Heads is a certainty this year," he said with a broad grin.
