Two men are missing after their boat ran aground on rocks as Cyclone Debbie slammed into North Queensland coast.
Emergency workers are out cleaning up the damage wreaked by the massive storm that hit land as a category 4 cyclone.
The destructive 50km‑wide storm system has cut all roads to the north Queensland towns of Bowen, Airlie Beach and Proserpine, and left tens of thousands of households without power.
The storm first hit the Whitsunday Islands and the nearby mainland and moved slowly inland, bringing massive wind gusts, heavy rain and huge seas.
It has gradually weakened to a tropical low.
Australian Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull activated a disaster response plan and defence force helicopters and naval vessels carrying aid were to be sent to Queensland.
More than 50,000 properties in the cyclone‑hit area were without electricity.
Carnage here at Shute Harbour, near Airlie Beach. @abcnews #TCDebbie pic.twitter.com/8y7PUtCGbk
— Jonathan Hair (@JonathanHair) March 29, 2017
Source: radionz
