Australia was bracing for its second cyclone in as many days yesterday with a tropical low intensifying off the northeast state of Queensland.
Cyclone Lua, the strongest storm to hit Australia since last year’s destructive top-strength Cyclone Yasi, ripped into the nation’s minerals-rich west coast on Saturday, bringing wild winds and heavy rains.
Emergency officials said the sparsely populated region appeared to have escaped the worst, with no injuries and only minor damage reported from the storm, which was rated category four of five in severity.
“With the category four and with the winds that it had when it crossed the coast, we’ve been extremely lucky not to have sustained quite a bit of damage in some of those areas,” Fire and Emergency Services Authority spokeswoman Lyn Bryant said.
Lua steadily dissipated as it moved inland and had dropped below cyclone strength late yesterday.
However, forecasters said a second cyclone was forming in Australia’s northern Gulf of Carpentaria region, with the bureau warning residents to prepare for gales of up to 185kph and possible flash flooding.
“The low is expected to continue moving in a northwesterly direction over southern Gulf of Carpentaria waters today, where it may develop into a tropical cyclone during Monday morning,” the bureau said.
Lua tore a path through western Australia’s Pilbara region, a critical iron ore and gas mining hub with heavy investment from resources giants including Rio Tinto and BHP Billiton.
The world’s biggest iron ore port, Port Hedland, was closed during the storm, but reopened yesterday and damage to local mining operations was reported to be minimal.
“All alerts across the Pilbara have been lifted and operations are returning to normal,” a Rio Tinto spokesman said.
Western Australian residents told of their harrowing wait as Lua raged through the night, bringing 250kph winds and drenching rains.
“It was absolutely horrific,” said Janet Robb, manager of the Pilbara Roadhouse that was directly in the cyclone’s path.
“There was half an hour there where you thought: ‘Is this ever going to end? Is the roof going to lift? Is the wall going to cave in?’” Robb told Fairfax newspapers. “It was pretty wild. At least we’re alive.”
Separately, hundreds of people were ordered to evacuate their homes as floodwaters continued to rise in southeastern Australia following huge rains that have already seen several towns inundated.
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