Residents in northern Queensland survey the damage after Cyclone Ita swept across north eastern Australia.
With winds of up to 230 km per hour, Ita packed a punch.
But Australians here escaped the worst after the category five storm weakened and was later downgraded to category one.
(SOUNDBITE) (English) QUEENSLAND STATE PREMIER CAMPBELL NEWMAN SAYING:
"Thankfully reports at this stage, no deaths, no injuries. Let's just keep our fingers crossed though."
Here in Cooktown, which carried the brunt of the storm, around 300 residents spent the night in an evacuation centre.
(SOUNDBITE) (English) COOKTOWN RESIDENT, RICHARD ANDERSON, SAYING:
"It wasn't as bad as I expected, as I thought it could have been. It could have been really horrific. A lot more places might have been totally destroyed."
(SOUNDBITE) (English) COOKTOWN RESIDENT, PAT GIBBONS, SAYING:
"I was terrified. Two days beforehand I was sick to my stomach with worry."
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