It could be days before holidaymakers are able to return to a Gold Coast caravan park, as winds hamper efforts to dismantle a crane at risk of collapse after wild weather.

It forced the evacuation of 39 campsites across the park, most of the visitors leaving with just the clothes on their back.

Tonight, they're still locked out as engineers and police work around the clock to remove the crane that could drop at any moment.

"The whole crane is actually leaning now towards the north, which puts the whole northern section of the caravan park in danger," Peter Venz from Queensland Police said.

The difficult job now is to remove the damaged crane. To do that, two more cranes have been brought in to dismantle it but right now it's still too windy to start the job... and it might not die down until 5am tomorrow.

"If we look at the wind patterns, it's not favourable for at least the next two days," Venz said.

The Broadwater Tourist Park said online that the storm "resembled worse than anything we saw during Ex-Tropical Cyclone Alfred".

Broncos legend Corey Parker and his radio personality wife Margaux were camping at the part with their family, one of the many devastated by the destruction.

"We've lost caravan awnings and gazebos, our car's been damaged, our caravan's been damaged, but you know we're all well and safe," Margaux said.

When the storm hit, mother and daughter Elissa and Shayla were hiding behind their car as a neighbour's boat came flying towards them.

"We hunkered down behind the wheel, my thinking was if the boat did come at us we were safe behind the car," Elissa told 9News.

Shayla added: "There were poles flying everywhere, hitting us a bit, it was terrifying, so we just were like its safer to get out of this kind of area."

Tonight, what remains inside the no-go zone will stay there until the police exclusion lifts.

For the dozens impacted they're being offered accommodation.

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