Winds from Cyclone Gabrielle have left residents without power, flattened banana trees and blocked roads on Norfolk Island.
Resident Alex McGillycuddy has been bunkered down at his home on the former penal colony for most of the day with his wife Sarah and their four children, aged between five and 11.
"I've been on the island for five years and this is nothing like I've seen," Mr McGillycuddy said.
"Some of the people here, they haven't seen anything like this and they've been here 25 years."
Mr McGillycuddy said the wind was so strong it was hard to stand up outside.
"We've had three banana trees come down and I've seen two roadside trees come down, which have blocked roads," he said.
"It's getting hectic.
"I don't know how much more powerful it will get."
The island has avoided the strongest winds of the cyclone, according to the Bureau of Meteorology. But it says gale force winds of up to 120 kph are likely to return on Sunday morning after Gabrielle passes.
It added that the risk of destructive winds above 130 kilometres per hour was less likely, but the island would see abnormally high tides and very high surf which could lead to localised damage and coastal erosion.
The McGillycuddys drove to Cascade Pier, on the north-eastern side of the island, about 9am on Saturday.
The gales were so powerful even then, five-year-old Maggie McGillycuddy's long locks shot straight up into the air when she popped her head outside the car window.
"Of course, they all found that hilarious," Mr McGillycuddy said.
But when the winds worsened, "hammering" Cascade Pier, is crucial to the island's supply chains, they headed home.
"The winds started picking up and I felt it wasn't right to be out with the kids," Mr McGillycuddy said.
They have been at home ever since, with Emergency Management Norfolk Island advising people on the island to stay inside until further notice.
Mr McGillycuddy said while his children were finding the cyclone "quite exciting", he and his wife were trying to dampen their enthusiasm for the long night ahead.
"My children are all young so they actually have never experienced something like this before," he said.
"We … have to stop them being too excited to stop them wanting to go outside because they know no better.
"They just think it's windy but it's actually quite dangerous."