Julie Stokes cancelled all appointments today and stayed at home to wait for news of loved ones in cyclone-hit Queensland.
"I've been crocheting furiously all day to try and keep calm," Ms Stokes said.
The Adelaide-born Whanganui resident has a niece living in Bowen, right in the path of Cyclone Debbie. Her niece's mother lives in the nearby town of Proserpine.
Her niece, Jaime Newman, is nearly seven months pregnant.
"Yeah, I'm worried - but what can I do other than wait for her to get back in touch with me?" said Ms Stokes.
"I was supposed to go out today, but I decided I had to stay at home and keep an eye on things. I've been watching the news, checking the weather forecast and crocheting."
She had been chatting with Jaime early this morning on Facebook but as the winds got stronger communication was cut. The winds were expected to peak in Bowen at 215km/h.
Jaime had told Ms Stokes the winds were "pretty scary".
"They're Queenslanders so they're used to cyclones, but this is a really big one. They've been preparing for this one for days."
Cyclones are not common in Adelaide, where Ms Stokes is from; but she lived in Queensland for two years and got to experience them first-hand.
"I learned pretty quickly to take cyclones seriously. You don't muck around with a cyclone. Rolls of masking tape are a staple in Queensland households - that's for taping up the windows.
"My first Queensland cyclone scared the living daylights out of me. The noise is terrifying," Ms Stokes said.
She said the wind storm that Whanganui and South Taranaki experienced in March 2012 was the equivalent of a category 2 storm in Queensland. Cyclone Debbie is currently a category 4.
Marco Romanov, who has family in Whanganui, lives in Mackay and said the town had had 210mm of rain in one hour with waves of up to 8m.
In a Facebook message to the Wanganui Chronicle, he said Cyclone Debbie may be the cyclone "to top them all".
"The eye of the storm alone is more than 100km wide."
Mr Romanov said he was on higher ground and was taking in people in low-lying areas of the town who were at risk of flooding.
"We are totally prepared. It's always wise to be ready for anything at any time. I can't stress how important it is to have a emergency response action plan in place."
Mr Romanov said the atmosphere in Mackay was "amazing".
"[Cyclone] Debbie is certainly showing her strength," he said.