Reporting through the storm Cyclone Jasper tested us all

I vividly remember the calm before the storm on December 12, 2023, just one day before Cyclone Jasper hit. No one could have guessed how bad things were about to get.

I walked through the streets of Port Douglas, chatting with locals and visitors about the impending storm.  There was no panic, just quiet preparation and a strange air of curiosity. No one could have anticipated the sheer devastation that would unfold over the following days.

When Cyclone Jasper made landfall on December 13, we braced for the worst. Initially expected to be a category 5 storm, it arrived as a less powerful category 2. The cyclone itself was relatively uneventful; strong winds knocked out power and left fallen trees scattered across the streets. While inconvenient, the damage seemed manageable at first.

But then the rain came, and it didn’t stop. The kind of torrential rain we’re used to in the wet season turned into something far worse. It felt as though a never-ending waterfall had been unleashed from the heavens. The sound was deafening, day and night.

By December 17, chaos had taken hold. I woke up to an overflowing email inbox, nonstop phone calls, and social media flooded with messages. 

The flooding and landslides caused blockages in the water catchments and breakages in the pipeline network, leaving the region without running water. Electricity was still out, adding to the chaos. In Mossman, the main street was completely submerged. Photos from readers showed shocking scenes: cars underwater, homes surrounded by floodwaters, and streets that had completely disappeared.

As if that wasn’t enough, news came in later that afternoon about a massive landslide at Ellis Beach. The landslide destroyed parts of the Captain Cook Highway and videos showed boulders blocking the road and waterfalls pouring down the mountainsides.

Reports continued to pour in throughout the day. Cairns Airport had suspended operations, with floodwaters threatening planes on the tarmac. The Captain Cook Highway to Cairns was impassable, effectively cutting us off.

In the days that followed, more devastation poured into our newsroom. Every few minutes brought new updates; heartbreaking images and videos, news of landslides, evacuations, homes destroyed and people stranded. The scale of the disaster was simply overwhelming.

On top of that, we received countless messages from people desperate to locate family members they couldn’t reach, asking Newsport to help connect them. Our team worked tirelessly to verify information and provide updates, but it was a constant challenge with emergency services stretched so thin.

The flooding was historic, breaking records according to the Bureau of Meteorology. Over 1,000 mm of rain was recorded at 21 stations since Jasper’s landfall, with a staggering 3.2 meters falling in less than a week - the equivalent of two years’ worth of rain. Damage assessments later revealed 18 homes destroyed and another 168 severely damaged.

The pressure on our team to report during this period was immense, but we were grateful to be able to help where we could. 

As the only news provider on the ground (since no other outlets could access the area) we felt a deep responsibility to keep the community informed. It was a tense and emotional week, filled with uncertainty and urgency as we worked to gather and share critical updates.