Dark, rolling skies always trigger memories of disaster for Kathleen Walker.

She was one of 300 residents evacuated by helicopter from Wujal Wujal, in Queensland's far north, as Tropical Cyclone Jasper crossed the coast unleashing unprecedented floods in December 2023.

"When I see black clouds, I still have a trauma," she tells AAP.

Her community was left without power and unable to return to their homes for months.

Being away from home took a toll on the tight-knit group of residents yet it was also the eventual catalyst in fulfilling their decades-long dream of launching Wujal Wujal's own solar microgrid and battery system.

The project was an idea that had come from her husband and uncle some 20 years earlier, Ms Walker says.

They had both wanted to bring renewable energy to the sm

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