JASPER - FOUR MONTHS ON: A look back at the widespread damage and how it united an unbreakable Douglas Shire
EDITOR'S COMMENT
It was the footage that left a Shire shaken and provided a visual perspective of the carnage caused by Cyclone Jasper and the record amount of rainfall we received in the days following the category two system.
Two men jump over trees, and observe a mighty landfall at Noah Range. Two very, very ambitious brave travellers try and pull a ute over a landslide along the Captain Cook Highway and use a drone to capture the moment in real time.
What caused a collective gasp from Douglas Shire residents though, was the stunning footage collected by Brett Wright from Windswell Kitesurf and StandUp Paddle, Port Douglas, when finally, and I mean finally, the rain stopped and people could go outside.
When Brett pulled up from Port Douglas, parked his boat on a remote beach and slowly walked onto a majorly damaged section of the Captain Cook highway - he was left completely shocked and dumbfounded - just like the thousands of viewers watching an edited package of these three diffferent mini-videos on Newsport.
To see the Captain Cook Highway full of huge boulders and rocks in particular sections, including around Ellis Beach resembled scenes from an apocalypse movie.
It's hard to believe tomorrow, April 13, marks exactly four months since Cyclone Jasper and the ensuing rainfall left its impact on the Douglas Shire.
For every negative that it produced; a Shire water crisis, flooding, untold road damage, mass evacuations, emergency scenarios right across the Shire and endless mental health concerns, it still did something that remains the lasting legacy of this terrible disaster - in its own way it galvanised and united the Shire.
Random acts of kindness were demonstrated day after day for months after the double disaster. In Port Douglas community members formed congo lines to pass items from boats, to utes for distribution. Local residents opened up their homes to accomodate displaced residents or those in need of a bed while they assisted with rescue efforts.
Kind businesses offered food supplies and used boats or other means to get those supplies into the Shire so locals could have drinking water, fresh food, toothpaste or toilet paper.
Port Douglas residents assisted those living in the Daintree by doing boat runs that included providing fuel supplies or further food and water supplies. There are endless stories of heroism and kindness - and it's that mentality that makes the Douglas Shire so great.
We saw community members walk Front St, from shop to shop, assisting business owners clean their shops and clear out rubbish.
The list goes on and on. We saw the ADF making rescues in Bloomfield and Degarra.
All that was just four months ago, tomorrow. Let's continue to unite and work together to make the Shire as strong as it could possibly be.
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