A freak twister has torn through a north Queensland cornfield, only turning at the last minute to spare the house of a family who moved in just three weeks ago.
Ghis Gallo, of Upper Barron southwest of Cairns, said a storm had been building near the family's 32-hectare farm on Tuesday afternoon.
"I was watching the clouds from the kitchen window and I just saw it down the back paddock - it was a twister," she said.
Her husband Adrian grabbed a video camera and started filming the phenomenon.
"We stood out the back patio and watched it come down the hill - it chased a heap of cows down the hill," she said.
"Then it coursed the creek and came through our corn paddock and we got panicky.
"We saw all the red soil being kicked up out of it and were sitting there cringing."
Equipment thrown into the air
She said they started to worry about the $100,000 worth of irrigation equipment parts which were sitting in the field ready to be installed.
"Sure enough it went straight over it - we stood there and watched cardboard boxes of sprinkler heads and poly pipe, and tyres weighing 200kg, thrown into the air," she said.
"That's when it started coming for the house."
The family went to the other side of the house and watched as the twister veered off and petered out.
A later inspection of the corn showed that while some of it was flattened, it would recover.
The twister had torn a five-metre wide track through the corn field and irrigation equipment was thrown at least 100 metres.
Ms Gallo said the family had only been in the house for three weeks.
She said the twister should serve as a warning about the dangers of climate change.
"It's my opinion that things like this continue to happen and we continue to ignore them," she said. "It's time we slowed down and stop consuming."
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