Locals bunker down for cyclone

Tauranga woman Kate Stagg made a bunker under the stairs and taped up the windows of her Australian house in preparation for Cyclone Marcia, which made landfall yesterday afternoon - less than two hours' drive from home.

Marcia was a category five cyclone when she made landfall, on Queensland's Capricorn Coast near Shoalwater Bay, but had been downgraded to a category three storm by 5pm as it moved further south through Rockhampton towards Gladstone.

Mrs Stagg, the former principal of Matahui School in Aongatete, moved to Gladstone, Queensland, with her husband, Murray, about 18 months ago - yesterday they were hunkering down for their first cyclone.

The school Mrs Stagg worked at was closed yesterday in preparation for the storm to hit but Mr Stagg had to leave for work at an aluminium smelter in the morning.

"No-one's to be out on the roads so I'm figuring he's stuck there until it hits and I'm stuck here until it hits," she told the Bay of Plenty Times Weekend. "I'm not too happy about that."

It started out as just another wet and windy day but Mrs Stagg said they had been told to "prepare for the worst".

Queensland Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk warned residents they could be in for a "harrowing and terrifying experience".

The Staggs tied down the outdoor furniture, barbecue and motorbike, taped up the windows, moved the beds away from the windows, and made up a bunker under the stairs.

"I'm a little bit nervous but not too worried at the moment. It's really just a wet day and a day off work at the moment," she said late yesterday morning.

"It is a bit crazy."

Part of her job at the school was to look after the buildings and the grounds - so she would be kept busy once the front had passed.

As she was speaking to the Bay of Plenty Times Weekend an announcement was made that Gladstone residents closest to the coast were being evacuated due to the risk of flooding.

Mrs Stagg said they lived about a kilometre from the beach and were confident flooding would not affect their house - a two-storey brick and block apartment.

"We do have some big windows on the windy side of the house. I've taped them up," she said.

Australia has only seen five recorded category five storms hit its coastline, with the last being Cyclone Yasi, which hit north Queensland in 2011

There were sustained winds of 205kmh near the centre of Cyclone Marcia, with wind gusts up to 285kmh.

More than 600 people left their Yeppoon homes to bunker down at the town's evacuation centre.

Storm surges of up to 3m were expected along some parts of the Queensland coastline.