Wollongong family stuck on Hamilton Island as Cyclone Debbie hits

Samantha Burnhams and her family, from Dapto, were meant to leave the island on Sunday but their flight home was cancelled as the cyclone approached. 

Now, the group has an anxious wait as Cyclone Debbie – now a category 4 –  makes its destructive power felt. 

“Don’t think I ever want to experience anything like this again,” Ms Burnhams told the Illawarra Mercury. 

Ms Burnhams is holidaying with her fiance Jason Campbell, her mum Tracey, dad John, sister Tabitha and Tabitha’s partner, Jordan Greathead.

The group has put a heavy dining table against the front door of their holiday house amid fears it was “about to break”. 

“The big hotel across from us all the verandahs have flown off and everywhere’s a mess,” she said.

“We watched a boat get washed away and still more to go.”

Ms Burnhams said wind gusts had reached 223km/h, but she and her family were safe.

“The houses here are built for this,” she said. 

“[I’m] pretty scared, [I’ve] never experienced anything like this.

“We're in a holiday house, just watching the trees around us in case they fall on the house.

“Water’s coming in from two windows but [it’s] not too bad yet.”

Wind speed data coming in from Hamilton Island earlier this morning was almost off the scale – at 10.30am [AEST] the wind speed was 183km/h and gusts were being recorded of 263km/h or 142 knots.

Weatherzone meteorologist Ben Domensino described those wind speeds as “extremely dangerous”.

"This is towards the top end of category 4 severe tropical cyclone," Mr Domensino said in a video update.

"If those wind gusts go over 280km/h, this will be classifdied as a category five severe tropical cyclone.

"The system is lingering over water just a little bit longer than expected; that's allowing it to intensify further.”

Earlier, a Wollongong couple told how they were “scared stiff” as Cyclone Debbie bears down on the Queensland coast.

For rolling coverage of Tropical Cyclone Debbie, click here.