Australia Weather News

Tropical Cyclone Mitchell is bringing destructive wind and heavy rain to one of Australia's best-known tourist towns.

As of 10pm Sunday (WST) the category 2 cyclone was sitting 45 kilometresnorthwest of Exmouth, 1250 kilometres north of Perth.

The Bureau of Meterology's (BOM) predicts the potentially destructive system to maintain its strength as it passes the town, before it heads further down the Ningaloo and Gascoyne coastline, towards Carnarvon on Monday.

Weather Bureau Forecaster Patch Clapp said "substantial winds" up to 155 km/hr were expected overnight.

"They do have that capacity to be destructive and do damage to houses, street signs and trees," he said.

"So there could be all sorts of debris out there."

Mr Clapp said as the system moved further south, conditions were expected to pick up in Carnarvon late Monday morning.

Several cyclone emergency warnings are in place for Exmouth and a number of surrounding communities including Ningaloo, Coral Bay and coastal islands, with residents now required to shelter in place.

Department of Fire and Emergency Services Incident Controller Will Blackshaw said anyone in the emergency warning zone should "shelter now".

"We're anticipating they're [residents are] going to see the worst effects very soon," he said.

"Anyone in the emergency warning area should be sheltering in the strongest part of the house right now."

An emergency warning for residents living between Onslow and Mardie was downgraded to a watch and act on Sunday night.

He said despite the warning being downgraded, people needed to be aware and stay away from any damaged buildings, downed trees and infrastructure.

Locals bunker down

Exmouth Shire President Matthew Niikula said he could hear "lots of bangs" as the wind began to pick up overnight, and tracked towards the coast. 

"We've had pretty consistent wind and gusts since 1pm today," he said.

"There seems to be a pretty howling easterly coming through.

"Just before it got dark, I saw a couple of branches snap off and fly in the backyard... hopefully they're blowing away from the house and not towards it."

About 30 kilometres away at Yardie Homestead and Caravan Park, Les Graham said while he had experienced a category 4 cyclone before, conditions at the property were "ramping up".

"We have lost a few trees and there's a few fence panels starting to blow around, and a lot of branches and stuff you can hear hitting the roof," he said.

Mr Graham said while the rain had eased, the wind had not.

"I think it'll be a fair few hour to get some sleep... it's just too noisy," he said.

"Can't do much about it, just have to wait it out."

Time to prepare

Mitchell's slow progress down WA's Pilbara coast left plenty of time for locals to make last-minute preparations, with many securing last minute supplies and sandbagging their properties throughout the day on Sunday.

Carnarvon Shire President Eddie Smith said he believed the town, about 900 kilometres north of Perth, was well prepared. 

"Preparation is the important part... I'm quietly confident we should be able to bear whatever comes," he said.

Mr Smith said he was concerned for Carnarvon's banana plantations.

"Those concerns are always there," he said.

"We haven't had a great start to the year with the heat events we've had, and now this on top of those heat events isn't really welcome.

"At category 2, hopefully the damage isn't too bad."

Karratha clean-up continues

In Karratha, resident Michelle South said she was relieved to wake up to minimal damage on Sunday morning.

"I was expecting and prepared for the worst but thankfully we got through relatively unscathed," she said.

"Just a few palm fronds down and a little bit of fencing coming off, but nothing major."

Ms South bunkered down with her family overnight, and said she was well-prepared for the wild weather with a set of earplugs.

Another local, Todd Carrington, said he was enjoying being outside with his family after the lockdown overnight.

"I think everyone's really happy down here, it's good to be out and about," he said.

"We might start getting things back to normal around the house, put away things we packed up yesterday."