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Six call for help that won't come

Updated 5 minutes ago
The group is caught in an area known to be at risk of a dangerous storm surge.

The group is caught in an area known to be at risk of a dangerous storm surge. (User Submitted: Alan Stons)


A group of desperate people in their 60s have called for emergency assistance as a storm surge whipped up by Cyclone Yasi closes in on their north Queensland unit.

But they have been told to bunker down for a terrifying night.

State disaster coordinator Ian Stewart says the six people holed up in a Port Hinchinbrook unit complex did not evacuate and now it is too late for emergency services to rescue them.

He says it is disappointing the group had chosen not to heed warnings to evacuate an area known to be at risk of a dangerous storm surge.

"They have been advised to go onto the second storey of the apartment block they're in," he said.

"It is really unfortunate perhaps that they had not taken advice that had earlier been given to them.

"They are now bunkered in place to sit this storm out. We know that this is a storm surge area and that the water will come up to at least the floor of the second storey."

Mr Stewart says they have been given telephone support and police will call them at regular intervals.

Premier Anna Bligh says Yasi is showing no signs of weakening, maintaining its intensity as a category-five cyclone.

It is still expected to cross the coast about midnight (AEST) near Mission Beach, about 50 kilometres south of Innisfail.

Innisfail District Police Inspector David Tucker says conditions outside are wild.

He says some residents have called emergency services regretting their decision not to leave home when they had the chance.

"We are getting in reports of people who are wondering as to whether they should have take the advice to go to somewhere safer," he said.