TWENTY years ago, we would have been cowering in our homes as cyclone Yasi approached, the radio our only contact with the outside world

But this is the age of the social network, and in the cyclonic winds of Wednesday night, we were cowering in our homes on our iPhones, Blackberries and laptops, sharing our fears, reaching out to friends and tweeting our experiences to the world.

Somehow it made it all more bearable.

Earlier in the day, the immediate accessibility of the Bureau of Meteorology’s hourly updates on www.bom.gov.au, accompanied by their truly terrifying maps of impending catastrophe, had only heightened our sense of helplessness.

From our emergency news room, cairns.com.au began a rolling Cover it Live blog that ran for more than 24 hours before last night's storms finally knocked out our internet.

From our bunker, a small team updated the site throughout the night, uploading stories and pictures from reporters out in the field and ensconced in evacuation centres. We shot live video outside in Abbott Street, before police told us it was too dangerous to continue. We kept updating the site as Yasi began throwing things around above our bunker, and the hotel evacuated guests from upper floors.

We received fantastic support from colleagues around Australia, who helped upload stories, manage comments on our live blog and keep the site rolling when we went offline. We had hundreds of thousands of contributors from around the world on our live blog, with more than 6000 people online as the eye passed over the coast.

Over the last three days on cairns.com.au we received more than 3 million page impressions, more than all of January combined.

People around the world asked for updates and received them from readers in the danger zone, others offered messages of support or prayers. Some readers had never been more scared in their lives, others were underwhelmed.

But wherever you were, however you were feeling, you shared it with the world. Thanks for helping us get through a long night.

HOW THE CAIRNS POST COVERED CYCLONE YASI

cairns.com.au/cyclone
Cyclone tracking and storm surge maps, preparation tips, warning signs, emergency information, news stories, photo galleries, reader submissions, plus our rolling live blog featuring readers from as far afield as the Arctic and Antarctica.

facebook.com/cairnscomau
Our loyal local community swapped all sorts of sensible advice on how best to protect homes and prepare children and pets, then shared dramatic photographs and stories as Yasi made impact. We just wished we had a Dislike button.

twitter.com/cairnsnews
Our Twitter feed exploded with chatter as we gained more than 1500 new followers searching for #TCYasi information in less than 24 hours. With his thumbs aching under the strain, tweeting Editor-at-Large Gavin King tripled his audience as the cyclone passed over.

Simon Crerar is online editor of The Cairns Post. Follow him at twitter.com/simoncrerar

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