Shock and dismay as Cyclone Jasper defies expectations to inundate far north Queensland

It was supposed to be a run-of-the-mill category two - but flooded streets and cut-off communities show an intensity that nobody saw coming

A lifelong resident of Machans Beach, just outside Cairns, Euan Williams had seen plenty of cyclones before. Once ex-Tropical Cyclone Jasper passed over the community on Wednesday last week as a category-two storm, that confirmed it. It wouldn't amount to much.

Being locals, a cat two's sort of like a run of the mill cyclone," he said.