Skip to playerSkip to main content
  • 12 hours ago
A few cattle stations ended up copping the worst of cyclone Narelle. William Jackson from the Ups and Downs station about 50 kilometres north of Coen is glad the worst of it is over.

Category

📺
TV
Transcript
00:02Yeah, no, mate, look, probably about 8.30 to 9 o'clock this morning, the worst if it hit us.
00:06It got pretty hectic there for a couple of hours.
00:09It's died off now.
00:10We've still got a bit of wind and rain's just finally died off.
00:13But, yeah, we've got trees and roofs down everywhere, so it's got a bit interesting.
00:17Yeah, and we can see those trees behind you.
00:20Have they kind of been stripped of most of their vegetation?
00:23Yeah, well, if you have a look all the way around, there's not a lot of leaves left on any
00:27of the trees all around us.
00:29So it's all pretty much bare.
00:31And what was it like at the worst of it with the wind?
00:37Oh, yeah, no, it had a bit going on.
00:40We all sort of bunkered down, so we got these steel containers here that are all bolted down and everything,
00:45so we were in them sheltered through most of it.
00:48Yeah, and so you basically got into these shipping containers.
00:52If you could just swing around and show us again because we weren't on you when you showed us last
00:56time.
00:57So, yeah, you spent a couple of hours in there.
01:00How many of you were in there?
01:03So there's five adults and four kids, yep.
01:05Yeah.
01:06And you went in there because it got kind of so full on that you were concerned that the main
01:11buildings might go?
01:14Well, yeah, everything was moving and shuddering and iron was slapping everywhere.
01:18So, yeah, it's just sort of there's a bit of a few trees lying around, a few debris flying everywhere.
01:22So a bit safe for the kids, isn't it?
01:24Yeah.
01:24And how did the kids go in there through it?
01:28Oh, they were a bit nervous at the start of it.
01:29At the end of it, they thought it was a bit of a game.
01:31They enjoyed themselves.
01:33And was it kind of the wind roaring around you at that stage?
01:38So I went through, I've been through, we went through Ingrid and Monica and that up here and it didn't
01:43roar like they did.
01:44Oh, right.
01:44But it's definitely moving a hell of a lot quicker.
01:47Yeah.
01:48And so what's the worst of the damage on your place?
01:51So over behind me over here, we've got the big machinery shed.
01:54So the roof's gone off it, the hay shed's gone completely and also the other car shed over there is,
02:00yeah, not real flash.
02:03And was there kind of bits and pieces of corrugated iron flying around at that stage?
02:08Yeah, you can't really see it from where I am, but straight over behind me over here, there's a couple
02:13of pieces of iron wrapped around a tree and, yeah, it's a bit interesting.
02:17Yeah, and you must have been concerned at that stage with bits and pieces of things flying around, it's about
02:25how dangerous it can be.
02:27Yeah, no, we had a couple of things slap up against the container, like it's right at the bottom of
02:30the container, there's a piece of iron here that come off the shed roof.
02:33Yeah.
02:33So that come up and hit the side of the container.
02:35Yeah.
02:35Bit of a whack?
02:37Yeah.
02:38Made a bit of a racket.
02:40And any flooding risk on your property now?
02:44Not on our property, but the Archer River Roadhouse, they're probably going to come here shortly because the bridge, the
02:50new, brand new bridge that we put there, it's going under at the moment and the roadhouse is getting a
02:54bit closer with water.
02:56All right, so you'll have a few visitors at your place for a while?
03:00Yeah, you'll see what the river does, the river might stop coming up hopefully.
03:03Yeah.
03:04And a lot of fences to fix on your place now?
03:08Yeah, no, there'll be a hell of a lot of green ants and a hell of a lot of chainsawing.
03:11Yeah, a lot of work for you?
03:14It'll keep us busy for the next couple of months.
03:18And are you kind of born and bred on the property there?
03:22Yeah, yeah, third generation here with us, so we've been here a while.
03:26Yeah.
03:26And what do you love about the place?
03:30Oh, for me it's just the country, you know, I don't like being in town.
03:35Even when it gets like this?
03:37I'd still rather be here.
03:40Good stuff.
03:41Okay, William, thanks so much for having a chat to us and good to hear that you got through this
03:45okay.
03:47No worries.
03:47Do this for us.
03:48I'll be right back.
03:49Bye-bye.
Comments

Recommended