Cyclone results in little destruction in Western Australia

Emergency services mopping up after a severe tropical cyclone battered a major oil and mining region of Western Australia expressed amazement yesterday at the lack of damage caused by the storm.

There were fears Cyclone Glenda would damage vulnerable industry infrastructure and endanger lives as it lashed the Pilbara region overnight with winds of up to 250kph.

Near miss

But officials said the cyclone, which was rated a Category 4 on a scale of five when it hit the coast, had missed major population centers and industry hubs, with flooding now the main danger in the rain-sodden region.

The storm passed directly over the town of Onslow, where residents were well prepared and the major problems were water damage to the local hospital and a minor fire in an evacuation center.

"We haven't had anywhere near the damage expected. It has been really minor like downed trees and downed powerlines," a spokeswoman for Western Australia's Fire and Emergency Services Authority (FESA) said.

"It's amazing. Glenda's come in with such gusto and yet there is not much damage," the spokeswoman said.

The bureau of meteorology said Glenda had been downgraded to category two by yesterday morning.

But they said the storm was still packing winds of 150kph and could damage banana crops if it changed course.

Flood danger

There was also the danger of severe flooding from torrential rains and a huge storm sea surge.

The weather bureau's Matt Boterhoven said that smaller cyclones had passed through the region earlier this year, leaving areas swamped and therefore unable to absorb any more water.

Glenda was the second severe cyclone to batter Australia in two weeks after a maximum Category 5 storm, Larry, slammed into the country's tropical northeast, causing extensive damage but no casualties.

Karratha, the town at the center of Pilbara's major iron ore, oil and gas mining and shipping operations, suffered minimal damage from the storm.