A NEWPORT woman who emigrated to Australia was forced to flea her Cairns home after a cyclone hit the town where she lives.

Caren Tyer, 29, and her husband Matthew, 31, packed their belongings into the bus they use for their business Captain Matty’s Barefoot Tours, before Cyclone Yasi struck last Thursday.

Leaving their home town of Yorkey’s Knob the pair, along with their cats Brinnie and Tiger and dogs Marley and Zeus, drove an hour inland where the owner of a pub they stop at on one of their tours offered them a place to stay. Mrs Tyer’s mum Linda Paffey, who still lives in Caerleon, said the family had been fraught with worry since he daughter called to say they had been evacuated.

She said: “I put the phone down and I could not speak, I was in tears, we were absolutely devastated. It’s been horrendous. It’s difficult because she’s so far away.”

Mrs Paffey, 54, said her daughter did not yet know how badly their coastal home had been affected but said the qualified radiographer, who also works for a skydive company, remained positive.

“She said to me, if we cannot go back to the house, we have got all our stuff, we will have to drive somewhere and start again. It’s a good positive attitude.

“The main thing is they are both all right, it was so nice when she phoned to say she was OK,” she said.

Cyclone Yasi was reported as the worst storm to hit Queensland in a century, with winds of up to 180 mph causing damage and cutting power to thousands of people’s homes.

The couple, who met while Mrs Tyer was travelling in the country in 2007, featured in the Argus in September 2009 when New Zealander Mr Tyer surprised guests at their wedding by skydiving in for the beach ceremony.