On the anniversary of Cyclone Yasi we look back on the terror it caused - and how Mount Isa dodged a bullet.
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This time 10 years ago Queensland was on edge as a monster cyclone approached the east coast.
Tropical Cyclone Yasi remains one of the unforgettable names and caused untold damage, at one stage threatening to knock Mount Isa's block off. It didn't but it packed a powerful punch.
Originating as a tropical low near Fiji on Australia Day 2011, Yasi intensified to tropical cyclone status on January 30 and by February 2 had intensified into a Category 5 Severe Tropical Cyclone.
Queensland was watching and waiting for the impact.
Yasi was massive, hundreds of kilometres wide while the length of the storn went from Cape York to the South East corner.
Premier Anna Bligh said it could be one of the biggest ever to hit the state.
The area south of Cairns was in the direct firing line but the forecast track had it heading due west all the way to Mount Isa.
In the days leading up, the North West Star warned a "major killer storm" larger than Cyclone Larry was coming.
On Wednesday February 2, 2011 the North West Star front page showed a satellite image of the massive system with the headline "Yasi is on its way".
The BoM had said Yasi could still be a cyclone by the time it hit Mount Isa and residents were urged to make disaster management plans.
By then 30,000 people had evacuated from Cairns and Yasi had made landfall near Mission Beach.
Wind gusts were estimated to have reached 290 km/h and a storm surge reached 7m. According to residents in Tully, the town was "a scene of mass devastation".
Mount Isa mayor John Molony said the city was ready for "elevated water levels" and there was no need to panic buy but people were nervous.
Shop fronts were boarded up, Mount Isa Mines stopped underground mining and there was sandbagging.
As system headed west and the Flinders Hwy flooded Mayor Molony warned the city to "batten down the hatches" on Friday February 4.
However by Monday February 7 the system fizzled out before it reached Mount Isa and Yasi was declared a tropical low by time it reached Cloncurry.
The North West still got plenty of rain from the system. Mount Isa got 140mm and Cloncurry got 97mm and winds rose to 70kph causing some tree damage.
Emergency Management's Elliot Dunn says Mount Isa got away with it.
"We had a worse season the year before and the year after," Mr Dunn said.
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Derek Barry
Editor of the North West Star Mount Isa since January 2016. Prior to that, an editor at several regional southern Queensland newspapers. Passionate about telling local stories. Comes with a strange accent to due an Irish accident of birth.
Editor of the North West Star Mount Isa since January 2016. Prior to that, an editor at several regional southern Queensland newspapers. Passionate about telling local stories. Comes with a strange accent to due an Irish accident of birth.
