A Kalbarri resident has survived the night on his 65 foot boat in the middle of Cyclone Seroja.

Terry Ash told 6PR’s Gareth Parker he chose to stay on the boat to protect it from monster swells.

“When they said we were going to get a two to three metre surge, you need to lengthen your ropes and shorten your ropes otherwise the boats move around to much,” he said.

“In the space of five minutes it rose about two and a half metres, the depth of the water.”

His boat, which was tied to the wharf, was badly damaged during the storm.

“We got picked up by a big one and got dropped on the side of the wharf,” he said.

“A pile-on went straight through the side of the boat.

“We considered trying to get off, but it was safer to stay on in the end, so we stayed on.”

He said the experience was terrifying and that he would never do it again.

“I don’t think the boat is worth what we went through last night.”

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Kalbarri was one of the hardest hit areas,  with early estimates one in five homes have had their roof ripped off.

“My roof has gone,” resident Dianne told Gareth Parker.

“Two other houses behind me, their roofs have gone. A huge big gum tree from the verge has gone right over my verandah onto the house, so it’s fully exposed, there are no fences around me.

“It’s like a war zone, there are powerlines, there is lines everywhere, there is debris, tin roofs everywhere.”

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(Photo: BOM/ Satellite Viewer.)