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Red Deer man takes cover through Australia cyclone

When Aaron Soley left for Australia in October, his mother encouraged him to experience all the different things that can’t be done in Canada.
A02-AustraliaCyclone
Aaron Soley is in Australia to complete his certification to become a scuba diving instructor assistant.

When Aaron Soley left for Australia in October, his mother encouraged him to experience all the different things that can’t be done in Canada.

Spending the night in an evacuation centre as Cyclone Yasi bore down early Thursday on the northeastern corner of the country was not exactly what she had in mind.

“I said to him the other night, ‘You got to be careful what you wish for because we said we want you to experience things you wont experience here in Alberta.’ Well, you’re not going to experience a cyclone,” Jeannette said, able to laugh after she heard from her son on Wednesday afternoon Red Deer time.

The 20-year-old Lindsay Thurber graduate is safe and uninjured in Cairns, which suffered minimal damage when the eye of the storm struck just south of the city.

He did, however, tell his mom that everyone prepared for the worst the night before the heavy rain and winds pounded the coast.

“Aaron said they walked in the grocery store and the shelves were empty,” she said. “He said it was like a ghost town.”

Aaron is in Australia to complete his certification to become a scuba diving instructor assistant.

Since January, he has been living and working on a Kangaroo Explorer boat that moors out on the ocean near the Great Barrier Reef.

The harbour master called all vessels in from sea before the storm, and the captain went as far to steer the boat up the river that feeds into the harbour so to protect it from the large swell that was predicted, Jeannette said.

The hostel that Aaron could have stayed at was in the evacuation zone so he ended up at a local university that was being used as an evacuation centre.

He stayed in a dorm room by himself and told his mom that he managed to sleep through most of the storm.

The storm toppled over some branches and small trees in Cairns and it was still raining when Aaron used his cellphone to call home.

“To actually hear his voice and hear him say, ‘You know what, I’m good,’ was an absolute relief,” Jeannette said.

When Aaron registered with the Red Cross at the evacuation centre he also signed up to be considered as a volunteer if needed, Jeannette said.

She was not sure as of Wednesday whether he would be asked to go help out in the communities that were hardest hit.

ptrotter@reddeeradvocte.com