A tropical cyclone is expected to make landfall in Western Australia on Thursday, bringing winds strong enough to damage roofing, knock over trees and caravans and cause widespread power outages, the Bureau of Meteorology has warned.
Category 3 tropical Cyclone Ilsa was about 340km north-west of Broome on Wednesday evening, and was expected to strengthen to a category 4 by the time it made landfall between Broome and Port Hedland on Thursday. That would make it the first storm of such magnitude to strike the region in more than a decade.
The cyclone has gusts of up to 195km/h, with gusts reaching up to 270km/h by the time it makes landfall, the BoM said.
The weather bureau has urged residents in the area to prepare for the cyclone by securing loose objects including outdoor furniture, trampolines, trailers, boats and caravans.
“Tie them down so these items don’t become dangerous projectiles as the system moves,” said Jessica Lingard, a BoM meteorologist. “It will be [strong] enough to pick up a caravan and move it around.”
The cyclone strengthened from a category 2 to a category 3 on Wednesday and was forecast to bring heavy rainfall and destructive winds to the western Kimberley. Storms could also extend into the Pilbara.
Remote Aboriginal communities, pastoral stations, mines and tourism operators have been asked to evacuate, the WA fire and emergency services commissioner, Darren Klemm, said on Wednesday.
People living in structures not built to withstand a category 4 weather event have also been told to evacuate.
Vessels such as iron ore carriers were removed from the Port Hedland port on Wednesday. Klemm also said the North West Coastal Highway between Port Hedland and Broome would likely close before the weekend due to flooding.
The BoM expects the cyclone to downgrade to a tropical low by early Saturday.
Cassandra Baleilau, who lives in Broome, said there was an eerie feeling in the town on Wednesday, but the streets were busy with people grabbing supplies before bunker down.
Baleilau said would be working well into the night for the Kullarri Patrol, a bus service that transports Indigenous people to safe places.
“A lot of out clients don’t have phones or don’t watch TV so we’re making sure everyone is aware there’s a cyclone coming, that they know what to do, and that they are in appropriate shelter,” Baleilau said.
In the remote Aboriginal community Bidyadanga, almost 200km south of Broome, vulnerable locals including elderly people and patients having dialysis treatment have been evacuated.
“We have these weather systems every year, and have done a lot of preparation,” said Tania Baxter, the chief executive officer at Bidyadanga Aboriginal Community La Grange. “There is a little bit of community anxiety, because we haven’t had category 4 in a few years.
“Our concerns are of maintaining power so we can keep water on. Any potential flooding on the Great Northern Highway, south and north of the community, would then isolate us.
“It is something we have to wait out, it is something we have gone through before. It is not doom and gloom. We are going to face this, and it’ll be OK.”
