As Severe Tropical (ST) Cyclone Jasper makes its way to the North Queensland coast, sugar cane and cattle producers are preparing their properties as they hope to avoid a repeat of the heartbreaking devastation caused by Cyclone Yasi 12 years ago.
Mourilyan cane farmer and chairman of Canegrowers Innisfail Joseph Marano said while he was relieved to have completed his harvest, he was very concerned about the damage Cyclone Jasper could cause.
"We finished harvesting in Innisfail last week and Tully should be finished by tomorrow (Tuesday) or Wednesday," the Cassowary Coast farmer said.
"We hope Jasper won't be as devastating as Yasi.
"There's not a lot we can do except clean up our property, get rid of loose objects and wait and see what happens.
"But I just don't want to go through the heartache again, like what was caused by Cyclone Larry and Cyclone Yasi, I don't want to have to deal with the insurance companies again."
On the Atherton Tablelands, one cattle producer said his family are "battening the hatches".
On the Atherton Tablelands, at Telpara Hills, Stephen Pearce said it was all hands on deck with family and staff moving livestock and securing machinery and infrastructure.
Mr Pearce spoke from his ute where he was on his way to assist with the moving of cattle from outer to internal paddocks.
"It's all blue sky and calm here, the calm before the storm," he said.
"But having gone through Cyclone Larry in 2006 and Cyclone Yasi in 2011, we are well aware of how quickly the situation can escalate, so we are moving cattle from outer paddocks to those with gullies and treelines where they can shelter from the wind and the rain".
Mr Pearce said the lessons learned from the devastation caused by those two cyclones which had wind gusts of over 240 km/h and 285 km/h respectively, loomed large in the family's memory.
He said they would rather, "prepare and be safe than sorry."
"Going through Larry and Yasi makes you aware they can be very serious, so we can't be complacent," he said.
"Our first and primary goal is to get cattle off the boundaries as trees can fall and knock over fences and the animals can get out," he said.
"Our dogs will be safe in their pens.
"As well as pulling irrigation out of the river, we are also tying down the centre pivots so they don't catch the wind.
"And have our own generators as after Cyclone Larry our property on the main highway lost power for 14 days."
The Telpara HIlls team have also stocked up on food and supplies for family and staff as well as for livestock, he said.
Meanwhile, Tablelands Regional Council (TRC) mayor Rod Marti said locals on and off the farm had taken the Bureau of Meteorology (BOM) cyclone warning seriously, if the state of supermarket shelves were an indication.
"The supermarkets have been quite hard hit, with high demand for batteries and tinned food" Mr Conti said.
"So if you come into town you might have to hunt around for what you want."
Cr Marti said landowners needed to put personal safety first.
"Everyone needs to understand their own risks, what particular risks are on their property or where they live," he said.
"It could be as simple as debris about which need to be tidied up, pruning tree branches near the house, ensure your water tanks are full and your gutters clean and empty."
Cr Marti urged those living outside the urban areas to check on their neighbours.
"If you know there's someone living on their own or are elderly on a farm down the road, then check in to see if they need any help," he said.
"And make sure you have your emergency kit organised."
Mr Marti said the TRC local disaster meeting would be held on Monday morning to ensure all depots, infrastructure was in all good order ahead of Wednesday's expected landfall.
At Queensland Rural in Innisfail, stock agent Ken Weldon said feedback from their customers was "everyone is preparing" just in case.
"You can't take it not coming in for granted," he said.
"It looks a bit hit and miss at this stage as to where Cyclone Jasper is going to go, but you can't be complacent.
"But we have time to prepare been given plenty of warning to prepare it's not like we have only been given 12 or 24 hours notice."
Cooktown mayor Peter Scott said he felt their region was well-prepared for any onslaught.
"In our case we are fortunate Ergon Energy have pre-deployed a number of containerised big gens (generators) in key areas around town," he said.
"So if the power goes down like in hospital, supermarkets, accomodation and business we are fortunate to have the big inline generators ready.
"And Queensland Police have sent up a dedicated inspector and an additional half dozen officers who can used to help out at our outlying communities at Hopevale and Wujal Wujal.
"Anyone living out wide should know the cyclone is expected to move across the Cape pretty quickly and the heavy rain is not expected to stick around, but flash flooding is expected to be around ony two or three days."
Earlier today the BOM reported daming winds of 90 km/h are expected to develop along the Queensland coast between Cooktown and Cardwell, including Cairns from Tuesday.
BOM said damaging winds of 90 km/hr may extend as far south as Townsville or as far north as Cape Melville depending on the movement of Jasper.
A separate severe weather warning is current for damaging winds for the coast between Ayr and Mackay.
BOM also advised, "heavy rainfall is expected to develop along the coast from late Tuesday, extending inland during Wednesday (and) a flood watch is current for the North Tropical Coast, parts of the Cape York Peninsula and Gulf Country."
And BOM said as the cyclone approaches the coast, a storm tide is expected between Cooktown and Townsville.
"Large waves may produce minor flooding along the foreshore," BOM said.
"People living in areas likely to be affected by this flooding should take measures to protect their property as much as possible and be prepared to help their neighbours".
