Hamilton Island has been battered by 220km/h winds as the eye wall of Cyclone Debbie arrives at the Whitsunday Islands.
Staff and visitors endured a sleepless night on Hamilton Island as "ferocious winds" from the category 4 storm arrived.
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Tourists bunker down and brave the "incredible noise" of Cyclone Debbie as it smashes into Hamilton Island, Airlie Beach and Bowen at lunch time on Tuesday.
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Cyclone Debbie: 'screaming and howling'
Tourists bunker down and brave the "incredible noise" of Cyclone Debbie as it smashes into Hamilton Island, Airlie Beach and Bowen at lunch time on Tuesday.
Just before 8am, the Bureau of Meteorology said the eye wall of Cyclone Debbie was beginning to affect parts of the Whitsunday Islands, with the main body expected to reach the mainland between Ayr, south of Townsville, and Midge Point, north of Mackay, about midday.
Hamilton Island recorded winds of 222km/h just after 8am on Tuesday, with those on the island saying a lockdown was enforced about 6pm on Monday, before the weather started to worsen about 2am.
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Melissa Coulter Ryan was staying at an apartment block near Catseye Beach and described the winds as "spine-tingling".
"The winds are absolutely howling, it sounds like a freight train coming through or a jet engine right on top of you just screaming, it's an absolutely incredible noise," she said.
"We had a row of beautiful palm trees in front of us yesterday and today they have pretty much lost all of their fronds.
"We've just had a tree come down over the road in front of us, it made a pretty large bang, and the rain is just pouring."
#CycloneDebbie has knocked out part of the window frame in our apartment overnight #TCDebbie @brisbanetimes @theage pic.twitter.com/tYZJXG0ikX
— Melissa Coulter Ryan (@missa_ryan) March 27, 2017
Chrissie Yee was staying on the 13th floor of the Reef View Hotel on the island and said she had been awake since 2am due to the "terrifying" noise generated by the cyclone.
"The winds are really bad," she said.
"It sounds like someone is crying and bashing against the door."
Ms Yee said she had wedged furniture against the doors to stop them from shaking and was preparing to run into the bathroom if any windows shattered from the intense wind.
Listen to the wind at the end of the video! Strong winds and rain. #TCDebbie #CycloneDebbie #HamiltonIsland pic.twitter.com/eQIP073aTj
— Cakes By Jacob's Mum (@cakesjacobsmum) March 27, 2017