Ray's tough shed laughs at Yasi

The following story was written and published in Queensland Country Life.

Ray’s tough shed laughs at Yasi

Semi-retired NQ earthworks supervisor Ray Wilson and his wife Coral have the toughest shed in Queensland. Cyclone Yasi said so.

Their 14x7 blue and white Wide Span shed at Tully Heads went right through the eye of the category-five cyclone and its 290km/h winds.

The shed was hit by the accompanying tidal surge, but lost not so much as a downpipe.

Ray and Coral had been sheltering from Yasi at their home near Townsville and helping family at Bowen, but more than a week after the storm and a chaotic drive back up to Tully on roads covered in debris, they could not believe what they say.

“It’s a holiday shed about two years old and about 150 metres from the beach,” Ray said.

“I go up there, take the boat, go fishing and put my feet up.

“we have our caravan in the open part of the shed, and the shower, toilet and living space in the enclosed section.

Ray said his cousin, Townsville builder Ken Western, erected the galvanised frames and its Colorbond cladding.

“He did a one hundred percent job,” Ray said. “I’ll buy him a beer.”

As Yasi bore down in early February, Ray and Coral were taking it easy at Tully Heads.

“The place was a picture,” Ray said.

“Coral likes the scenery – the rainforest.

“There was a lot not far from the block, down around the boat-ramp, but that has all gone now.”

In preparing for the cyclone, Ray drilled eyebolts into the concrete slab to anchor the caravan, which would be exposed to the weather.

“I did a bit of tidying up, but we had to head south because when it rains the Tully Heads road often gets cut,” Ray said.

“We wanted to get back home and also to visit my parents in Bowen to help them with their preparations.”

As they left, Ray and Coral were unsure how they would fare.

“The avocado tree in the yard was completely loaded with fruit,” Ray said.

Fast-forward a fortnight and the return trip was a nightmare.

“After the cyclone, we saw the news and we really thought it would all be gone,” Ray said.

“We couldn’t even get back to see for ourselves for a week because the roads were cut.

“We’d been through Cyclone Althea at Christmas in 1970-71.

“At the time we were in Townsville at a unit in West End. Althea delayed our wedding.

“We had to get married in a church hall because the church was gone.”

Ray said the scenes of devastation on the trip from Townsville to Tully Heads were horrifying.

“I had goose bumps all the way,” he said.

“WE passed a pine forest and there was just nothing.

“From Tully, along the beach, everything was completely demolished.

“It was terrible. I thought there was no hope for our place. But then, when we arrived, after all we’d seen, I couldn’t believe it.

“The avocado tree was a dead stick, but the shed – there wasn’t any damage at all. I was hard to believe.

“On the caravan, a window blew out and broke. Inside the shed, there was sand and other stuff from where the sea went through.

“It left marks eight inches up the wall, but all I had to do was wash them off.

“A policeman said we must be the luckiest people around. He’s right.”

The experience of Cyclone Yasi has changed Ray and Coral’s outlook on life in the Far North.

“Coral is a bit worried about cyclones and tsunamis,” he said.

“We’ve had the clock for four years, but now it’s on the market.

“We’re thinking we might take a look further south – maybe down near Maryborough.”