A tropical cyclone that crossed Australia’s northwest coast early yesterday weakened, although several small inland communities were on red alert and the risk of heavy swells, flooding and storm surges remained.
Category 2 Cyclone Stan made landfall about 120km northeast of the world’s largest iron ore export hub, Port Hedland, in the early hours of yesterday morning, the Australian Bureau of Meteorology said.
Cyclone Stan was just one of the severe weather events Australia experienced during the weekend, with several weather fronts hitting the nation.
One man was killed after being swept away by floodwaters overnight in southern Queensland, state police said yesterday.
In New South Wales, a mini-tornado destroyed several homes, while roads were flooded and power cuts occurred in several regions.
In Tasmania, about 80 wildfires have been burning mostly in the west of the island state since lightening struck on Jan. 13, destroying more than 72,000 hectares of bushland, including 1,000-year-old trees in World Heritage listed forests.
In Tasmania’s east, communities were warned to brace for further flooding yesterday as heavy rainfall was forecast.
While inland communities in Western Australia’s Pilbara remained on red alert as Cyclone Stan tracked southeast and weakened yesterday, port authorities in Dampier and Port Hedland, through which almost half the world’s seaborne iron ore is shipped, were readying to reopen following their closure on Friday, a ports spokeswoman said.
More than 37.5 million tonnes of iron ore was shipped from Port Hedland in December last year, latest figures showed, with the bulk of it heading for steel mills in China.
BHP Billiton, which evacuated workers from its port operations, said in a statement that any impact to production or sales would be reported in its next operational review.
Cyclone Stan is the first of the season, which usually runs for six months from Nov. 1.
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