Cyclone Yasi victims protest at service

2 Feb 2012, 7:19 pm   -   Source: AAP
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Ms Bligh said the scars in Tully and other cyclone hit communities were still raw. (AAP)

Ms Bligh said the scars in Tully and other cyclone hit communities were still raw. (AAP)

Cyclone Yasi victims have protested outside a commemorative service which paid tribute to the strength of the community's spirit.

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Frustrated Cyclone Yasi victims have protested at a commemorative service in their own honour, reminding those gathered of the work still to be done a year on from the storm.

Around 20 residents of Mission Beach gathered quietly outside the multi-denominational service in Tully on Thursday, which was held to remember the category five cyclone which wreaked havoc on north Queensland on February 3 last year.

Thousands of homes, businesses and farms were destroyed during Cyclone Yasi, mainly in and around the Cassowary Coast district of Innisfail, Tully, Cardwell and Mission Beach.

After the service ended, the group confronted their local federal MP Bob Katter about the lack of work done on the town's tourism infrastructure.

Boyd Scott, who runs a backpackers' hostel in Mission Beach, said his calls for help had been falling on deaf ears.

"The one thing that could've been fixed straight after Cyclone Yasi - tourism - hasn't been and it's just a no-brainer," Mr Scott told AAP.

"Nothing at all has been done. Tourism infrastructure is just not a priority."

Mr Katter addressed the group, saying he'd been in a "violent fight" with the Cassowary Coast Regional Council to get projects in and around Mission Beach started.

Inside the service, Queensland Governor Penelope Wensley said she had felt "very helpless and deeply anxious" as the cyclone lashed the coast, and had decided to call her friends in affected areas.

"All of them, all of them said the same thing to me, `The noise is deafening. The wind is howling. It's screaming. It's shrieking,'" she said.

"And even those old hands who'd been through cyclones before ... confessed to feeling very, very frightened."

Queensland Premier Anna Bligh said the residents of the Cassowary Coast had been inspirational in their recovery from the cyclone.

"We all know that the community of the Cassowary Coast and Point Hinchinbrook were sorely tested last year," she said.

"But when you were sorely tested, we know that you were not found wanting.

"We give thanks to all of those from this community and from all around Queensland and Australia who reached out, who opened our hearts and gave us a hand when we needed it."

Later on Thursday, Liberal National Party attended a smaller service at Cardwell, where Anglican Bishop Bill Ray said he took heart at small signs the region was recovering.

"As we were coming into Cardwell this morning, there was an absolutely beautiful and glorious rainbow," he said.

"From the book of Genesis, a sign of hope and new life."

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