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Ex-pat journalist narrowly escapes Aussie cyclone

An expat former regional journalist had a narrow escape as a devastating cyclone tracked towards his home in Australia.

Chris Ellis, formerly of the Stoke Sentinel, blogged about his experiences as the huge storm made its way through parts of the country.

Cyclone Ita ripped across huge swathes of land but in the end Chris missed the worst of the storm.

Originally from Leek, Staffordshire, Chris now lives in Cairns, Queensland.

He headed his blog post “Ita can do its worst, I’m staying put” and wrote a string of entries including “Cyclone Ita’s supposed to hit us here in Cairns sometime later this evening.

“I’ve just found out I’m in the “red zone”, which means I should really be thinking of leaving my unit.”

He said: “In Cairns we’re not going to get it as badly as further up north, but the trouble with cyclones is that they change, and no one can provide a totally accurate prediction.

“We’re now told it could hit us around midnight.

He later updated the blog to say: “The Cairns Post reports that evacuation centres are now open for people in the relevant zones without accommodation.

“A chair will be provided to shelter seekers, but there will not be space to lie down….no one will be able to enter or leave the centre until the cyclone has passed.”

His final blog entry concludes: “Okay, I won’t be updating this blog any more unless something dramatic happens.

“This is the problem with cyclones, you never really know what they’re going to do until it happens. Having said that, it’s still blowing a gale, and I won’t be going out…”

The storm tracked across parts of  Australia on April 11.