A worst possible case scenario is what we call "disaster". Here in Tully people are still recovering from a natural disaster called Cyclone Yasi. It's been six months and there are still houses flattened, or boarded up, or just left alone.
A former two-storey house.
Cyclone Yasi hit Tully directly. The eye of the storm (the eerie calm bit in the middle of every cyclone) encompassed the entire community, surrounding it with high walls of lightning. One lady said the stars were brightly shining and a man was playing flute on his roof. Another story is that birds were seen flying in the eye as if trapped. Another woman said her house, though most of the windows and doors were boarded up, was filled an eerie light.
A house with no roof. The man now lives next door, not willing to leave just yet.
There have been many stories of survival from the people here. All consist of the night of the storm, all consist of the hardships faced since, and all end with "she'll be right, ay".
One man told us he cuts the cane and picks bananas for work. Now that his caravan had been destroyed, the cane harvest has been delayed and the bananas were blown away he has moved home with his mum and won't have work until at least September, and even then he doesn't have much hope.
Sugarcane waiting to be processed. This cane is being harvested late because of soft ground.
This whole town is tired. It's been six months of cleaning up, rebuilding, finding work, making ends meet, trying to sell, fighting insurance companies, coping with family, coping with life, etcetera. The whole of Tully is beyond desperate. They're almost ready to give up.
But these people are fighters.
And they won't go down just yet.
Educate. Entertain. Inspire.
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