Dave and I had just moved up to Exmouth from Coral Bay. In fact, Dave and the boys were still living in Coral Bay and I was living in a room out at the base as our house hadn't settled yet. Turned out to be a very good thing as I literally watched pieces of the house we were buying fly off into the distance during the cyclone! I stayed in town at a friend's house with Diva as the hotel owner would not let her stay with us at the base, despite authorisation from the Base Commander for the exception (no dogs are allowed on base normally) while Dave and the kids stayed in the hotel there.
It was a wild event, for sure. I don't think either Dave or I will stay in town for another Category 5. No one was hurt or killed in this storm but there was tons of property damage, the utilities were down, there was no water and many people were evacuated.
Exmouth Diving Centre's building suffered massive damage, the Gulf and ocean around the top of the Cape were red with runoff and the town was closed to tourists. We were lucky and were able to transfer many of our visitors to our Coral Bay operation while Exmouth was still off limits. The whale shark season in 1999 was one of the best I've seen with amazing blue water (from Coral Bay!) and lots of sharks, many very small and curious. Some days we'd simply stop the boat and drift along while the whale shark swam in circles around us - we got a little spoiled!
We finally rebuilt and reopened, but it took months of hard work. During the process, I moved to Coral Bay to run our operation there while Dave stayed in Exmouth to oversee the rebuilding of Exmouth Diving Centre. It was a tough, long haul. Luckily, none of our gear or boats were devastated by the storm, though all of our stock was ruined. Concorde suffered some cosmetic damage - including having her bimini blown across the marina and onto the nearby beach - but our crew had done an amazing job preparing for the worst. When we were ready to reopen, visitors were anxious to get back diving the best the Ningaloo Reef has to offer and we were soon full steam ahead in the revamped building! Had I been more organized this year, I would have some photos to share LOL
Yesterday Exmouth held a commemorative event to dedicate a plaque and to celebrate our recovery. The Shire Hall had exhibits of photographs, art work and personal testimonies from those who were here. They also showed a compilation of the news coverage.
There was a pretty good turnout, including quite a few who hadn't been here for Vance.
Doreen Blum gave a nice speech to kick off the event
Local media turned up
Mrs Mac, a beloved long-time Exmouth resident, took a moment to reflect
Ned was the official unveiler
And many residents took the time to stop and read the dedication & share their stories
I never did get a t-shirt...
We're still in cyclone season for a while yet, but so far - fingers crossed - it's been a pretty uneventful year for us. And we hope it stays that way!
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