A FOREBODING sense of deja vu swept through North Queensland as monster Cyclone Yasi came barrelling toward the coast.
It was early February, 2011, just shy of five years after category four Cyclone Larry tore roofs off houses, felled powerlines and packed a knock-out punch to cane and banana farmers in the Tully region.
Cyclone Yasi, which had formed in Fijian waters, was following a similar course and had its sights set firmly on the most populous northern cities of Cairns and Townsville.
Bureau of Meteorology Queensland severe weather manager Vikash Prasad said Yasi's path never waivered as it made a beeline toward the Queensland coast, rapidly intensifying to become a category five storm, the most severe in Australia's cyclone monitoring system.
On the morning of February 3, Cyclone Yasi made landfall near Mission Beach as one of the most powerful systems to ever impact built-up areas of Queensland.
Hunkered down on the floor of his Innisfail office, was then Cassowary Coast Regional Council Mayor Bill Shannon.
On the floor above him, a team of about 20 emergency services personnel were monitoring the situation.
One floor above them, in the council hall, were 800 nervous evacuees, who had no where else to go after being forced to flee caravan parks or beachfront properties in the region.
Mr Shannon said while a huge amount of work had been done to prepare for the cyclone, it was impossible to know exactly where it would hit.
"I could see the roof going off the office next door, I had a sleeping bag and a few essentials and the phone rang hot all night," he said.
The next day, after it became safe to venture out, the extent of the devastation became clear.
But exact records of just how powerful the storm was are hard to come by.
Yasi had knocked out the BoM weather station at Willis Island, which had been evacuated, passing over as a category four storm before it slammed into the mainland.
However, a barograph at the Tully Sugar Mill recorded a minimum pressure of 929 hPa as the eye passed over, suggesting wind gusts of about 285km/h were possible.
Significant wind damage was reported between Innisfail and Townsville where the destructive core of the cyclone crossed the coast, while Tully and Cardwell suffered major damage to structures and vegetation, with the eye of the cyclone passing over Dunk Island and Tully.
Banana and cane growers had dusted themselves off after Larry, which many considered to be a once-in-a-generation storm.
But Yasi came in behind to deliver the sucker punch.
Rainfall totals between Cairns and Ayr were between 200-300mm in 24 hours and caused some flooding.
The highest totals were along the Tully and Herbert River catchments, with South Mission Beach recording 471mm; Hawkins Creek, 464mm; Zattas, 407mm; while Bulgun Creek had 373mm.
Mr Shannon said Clive Palmer had loaned the Cassowary Coast Regional Council a six-seater helicopter, and paid for the pilot and fuel, to allow him to survey the area.
"To see the devastation from the air, from Innisfail to Cardwell, was quite amazing," he said.
"Hull Heads and Tully Heads were really badly devastated. The waves of the tidal surge alone came through the height of single story buildings, so you could imagine the damage done."
Overall, the damage bill was in the billions, with Insurance Council of Australia data showing $1.33b was paid out after 72,203 claims were lodged.
Mr Shannon said his most important role in the aftermath was to be a sounding board for the community.
"My role, even that first night with 800 people hunkered down in the town hall, was to go and talk to people to have that calming effect and make things a bit easier.
"You get different reactions, the first is often stoicism, people just want to get in and fix it and ask where do we start, then some people get quite depressed, or angry, there are several stages.
"But overall, it's the stoicism and let's get it done aspect of Australian society that comes through.
"I didn't really have any power, it was just to make doors open and have a calming effect, a figurehead, that's what it was, being there talking to people, being a reassurance."
Mr Shannon said there was relief as the army rolled into town, with soldiers doing the rounds of rural blocks, clearing driveways to free trapped residents.
"The army guys did a fantastic job and to hear them go past in the personnel carriers was extremely reassuring."
The SES and Red Cross were a force to be reckoned with, as were community members who set up Cassowary feeding stations to save the endangered birds whose natural food sources had been obliterated.
