Schools, ports and roads have been closed as northern Australia braces for a tropical cyclone that has developed into a destructive category five system bringing ferocious wind gusts up to 320km/h.
Severe Tropical Cyclone Zelia has rapidly intensified since developing off the Western Australian coast and is forecast to be at its most dangerous and powerful when it hits land.
It is expected to make landfall between Port Hedland and Roebourne on Friday evening, triggering flash flooding and unleashing winds capable of wrecking houses.
The Bureau of Meteorology’s Miriam Bradbury said the cyclone was moving slowly over warm ocean waters on Thursday evening, which would help it maintain its category five intensity through to the time of crossing.
The storm’s eye was undergoing an eyewall replacement cycle late on Thursday afternoon, she said, a phenomenon which only happens with the “most intense” cyclones. “They will destroy anything in their path: trees, paths and permanent structures will all be wiped away.”
The WA premier, Roger Cook, said it was “going to be a big one”.
“This is a dangerous system. It’s big, it’s strong and it’s very unpredictable,” he said. “People in the Pilbara need to be prepared, and they need to be prepared now.”
Angus Hines, a senior meteorologist at the bureau, said category five was “top of the scale”, with winds strong enough to take out complete houses, trees and power lines, causing widespread damage and disruption.
“It doesn’t get any worse than that,” he said. “That is the most powerful tropical cyclone you can get.”
About a dozen schools have been shut in the state’s north and roads were set to be closed with the cyclone looming about 140km north of Port Hedland.
Winds up to 320km/h are expected when the core of the system moved across the coast.
Bradbury said “feeder bands of showers and storms” were pulling into the system and spraying out across parts of the Kimberley and Pilbara, delivering heavy falls to some areas on Thursday afternoon.
WA’s Department of Fire and Emergency Services commissioner, Darren Klemm, said there was a “significant threat to lives and property”.
He said not all cyclones made landfall, but that didn’t mean the cyclone wouldn’t cause damage on land. The warning zone extended from Wallal Downs to Dampier, including Port Hedland, Karratha and Dampier, and inland to Marble Bar.
Schools have been closed in the region with authorities expected to shut roads, including the Great Northern Highway, and set up a South Hedland evacuation centre.
In the early hours of Friday morning, a cyclone emergency warning was issued for Pardoo Roadhouse to Whim Creek and inland to west of Marble Bar.
“Shelter indoors now,” the warning said. “There is a threat to lives and homes. You are in danger and need to act immediately.”
Flood watches have been issued across north-west WA, with the De Grey catchment and Pilbara coastal rivers stretching to the far north-west considered key areas of concern.
The cyclone is set to trigger more than 500mm of rain for some areas, with reports of a road train being washed off a bridge at Marble Bar late on Thursday.
Australia’s largest iron ore port at Port Hedland was shut down on Wednesday as the region braced for the incoming system.
Port Hedland resident Chris Ward said cyclone preparations were well under way in the iron ore town of about 16,000.
“The rain has well and truly started. People are stocking up at the supermarket on food and water, and tying down stuff around their homes,” Ward said.
“The airport is getting busy too, Fifo workers are flying out. Looks like it’s going to be a wet and wild Valentine’s Day.”
BHP paused non-essential travel to Port Hedland, while iron ore mines continued to operate.
Authorities worked with retailers to ensure supplies are available to rural, Indigenous and isolated communities, with the cyclone tracking toward the east Pilbara coast.
Additional on-the-ground personnel, flood boats and aircraft have also been pre-deployed.
The federal emergency management minister, Jenny McAllister, told reporters on Thursday that there remained “high uncertainty” as to where and when the “very destructive inner core of the cyclone” would cross the coast.
It would bring “very heavy rainfall and a dangerous storm surge”.
“This is a very dangerous cyclone,” she said. “I ask communities between Bidyadanga to Dampier … to please stay updated with warnings from the bureau and … emergency management agencies.”
