People in the path of Severe Tropical Cyclone Ilsa have been ordered to take shelter immediately after it intensified into a powerful category five system ahead of its final charge towards Western Australia's northern coastline.
Ilsa is about 115 kilometres north-north-east of Port Hedland and 105km north-west of Pardoo Roadhouse, with sustained winds near the centre of 215kph and wind gusts to 295kph.
People between Bidyadanga to Whim Creek, including Port Hedland — but not including Bidyadanga — and extending inland past Kumawarritji, including Nullagine, Marble Bar, Parnngurr and Telfer are now in red alert lockdown.
Extreme wind gusts of up to 315kph are expected in areas near Pardoo Roadhouse and De Grey when the cyclone makes landfall overnight with the areas already being impacted by strong winds.
As a category five system, Ilsa is rated at the highest level on the scale measuring cyclone strength, and could be one of the most powerful cyclones to make landfall in WA.
The last category five cyclone to make landfall in WA was Cyclone Laurence in 2009 which crossed the coast along the same stretch of Eighty Mile Beach where Ilsa is expected to land.
The Bureau of Meteorology’s Todd Smith said an automated weather station at Rowley Shoals, an island 260km west of Broome, had on Thursday recorded wind gusts up to 235kph before going offline.
“So we know that this system is really packing a punch,” he said.
Mr Smith said there was now “high confidence” the system would track to the south-east, and cross the coast near Pardoo Roadhouse later this evening.
"Category five cyclones are incredibly dangerous, with wind gusts in excess of 250kph," he said.
"That's going to cause a heap of damage to trees, vegetation, if there were any caravans around they would be destroyed.
"Any houses that aren't built to code are going to suffer extensive damage from that kind of wind strength."
Heavy rainfall is also expected along the track of Ilsa, with 150 to 300 mm of rain possible over the next 24 hours.
Preparing for red alert
The mining town of Port Hedland is Australia’s biggest bulk export port and home to about 16,000 people.
The entire town is now bounded by a red alert warning, while all vessels from the port were ordered to be cleared from the harbour on Wednesday.
Department of Fire and Emergency Services (DFES) Commissioner Darren Klemm said people under red alert need to shelter in place and cannot go outside.
"It is incredibly dangerous to be out in those environments, and it risks the lives of first responders to go out there and protect those people," he said.
"We do not want to see anyone outside of rated structures once the red alert is put on."
Ilsa a reminder of past cyclones
Julie Arif has called Port Hedland home for 60 years and has seen many cyclones throughout her life, but she said there was one weather system that stayed in her mind.
"Cyclone Joan on December the 8th, 1975 — a very severe cyclone that crossed the coast very close to Port Hedland and caused a lot of damage all around Port Hedland."
"I was 18 and still living at home.
"The roof of houses around us landed in our yard and our roof did start to peel back, but fortunately we didn't lose our roof.
"That went on for what seemed like forever and it was very, very frightening."
Ms Arif also noted the destruction Cyclone George in 2007 made, especially to inland towns.
Tourist hit by twin emergencies
German tourist Jon Kirchener is on a one-month holiday around northern Australia.
He's one of hundreds of tourists who were evacuated out of the region on Thursday, but is only one of a handful who have been impacted by both major emergencies in WA's north this year.
"We flew to Broome because of the Fitzroy Crossing (flooding) situation, and then in Broome the cyclone warning hit," he said.
"So, because (of road closures) between Broome and Port Hedland, we headed to Port Hedland."
"Now Port Hedland is also being hit, so we're just seeing."
Ilsa to track inland at strength
It's expected the cyclone will be a still powerful category three system as it moves inland through Telfer.
Mr Smith said it would likely impact places not used to experiencing strong tropical cyclones.
"[It's] particularly important for those communities inland to keep a close eye on this one, because we probably haven't seen a system like this extend that far inland before," he said.
Evacuation centres have been opened across multiple locations including Port Hedland along the coast, and further inland at Nullagine Primary School, Marble Bar and Newman, with evacuees beginning to arrive this morning.
Many of those people were medically vulnerable people from Punmu in the Pilbara and Bidyadanga in the Kimberley.
At Bidyadanga, 180km south-west of Broome, hundreds of people were expected to shelter through the worst of the cyclone.
Authorities have closed a 560km stretch of the Great Northern Highway connecting Broome and Port Hedland.
Ripon Hills Road and Marble Bar Road have also been closed.
Main Roads Kimberley manager Dave Serafini said the cyclone could cause damage to the region's freight network.
"There is potential for damage to the road or flooding from the De Grey which may prolong any road closure … however, our aim is to reopen that road and restore traffic movements as quickly as possible."
He said Kimberley police were patrolling the road to ensure motorists weren't taking unnecessary risks.
"There's no reason why anybody should be within that impact area or on the Great Northern Highway."
Flood warnings are also current for communities downstream.
