Australia Weather News
The Department of Fire and Emergency Services WA is preparing for bushfire season. (August 2025) (good generic) (ABC News: Mya Kordic)
Communities across Western Australia's Pilbaraare picking up the pieces in the wake of ex-Tropical Cyclone Narelle, which caused significant damage to Exmouth and flooding in Onslow.
About 2,000 homes remain without power, as the former cyclone, which was downgraded to a tropical low shortly before 6am, local time, today, continues to cause wild weather in the Mid West.
Emergency warnings have been lifted across the Gascoyne, but residents in the Mullewa region of WA's Mid West remain under an emergency warning, and are being urged to shelter indoors as the tropical low passes through.
A storm watch and act has been issued for surrounding areas in the Mid West, while residents in a huge swathe of the state's south, including Perth, parts of the Goldfields and Albany, are being urged to prepare for severe weather.
The former cyclone is now tracking north-east of Geraldton as it heads south over land, and is expected to weaken further, but a severe weather warning is in place for most of the state's south-west, east of Perth and north east of Albany.
People in Geraldton, a regional port city with a population approaching 50,000, have been allowed out of their homes after being warned to remain in lockdown from yesterday afternoon.
Mid West towns appear to have been largely unscathed, with no services lost.
The system passed overthe tourist hotspot of Exmouth as a category four system yesterday, bringing destructive wind gusts up to 250km/h and ripping roofs from buildings all over the town.
The system was later downgraded to a category three, as it made landfall between Coral Bay and and Cape Cuvier and began to head inland.
[cyclone tracker link]However, national parks across the region remain closed, including Ningaloo Marine Park and Cape Range National Park, and a new evacuation centre has opened at the Ningaloo Function Centre, after the Exmouth evacuation centre had part of its roof ripped off in the early hours yesterday.
Morawa Shire President Karen Chappel said the community was well prepared, but anxious after a cyclone in previous years hit the Mid West community much harder than expected.
'Pretty full on'
As Cyclone Narelle tore down the iron-ore rich Pilbara coast and across the Gascoyne food bowl region yesterday, it left a trail of damage to housing and infrastructure.
The state's biggest oil and gas companies were forced to halt LNG production at many of their sites.
Energy giants Santos, Chevron, and Woodside all confirmed impacts to critical infrastructure.
Meanwhile, residents described the moments roofs were ripped off across Exmouth, boats sunk in the marina and flooding filled the streets.
Remote locum doctor, Jo Crookes, arrived in Exmouth 10 days ago for work.
The Canberra resident described seeing fallen trees and fences, shredded shade-cloths and hearing loud bangs, as she sheltered in a wardrobe.
"It was a little scary. The water was flooding in under the sliding doors upstairs and it was leaking through some of the light fitting," Ms Crookes said.
"A big panel on the outside balcony got blown off and lots of guttering came down,
"It was pretty full on."
'Pretty devastated' in Exmouth
Long-time Exmouth resident Bluey Timewell said nine solar panels from his roof blew off during the cyclone, causing multiple water leaks.
Mr Timewell's property is one of the 2,000 homes still without power around Carnarvon and Exmouth.
"There's a lot of people in town who are pretty devastated today with the damage that's happened to their places, so we are going to rally around today and try help everyone out," he said.
Paul Richardson said he caught the eye of the storm at Gnaraloo Station, just south of where Cyclone Narelle crossed the Gascoyne coast.
He said the cyclone significantly damaged the station, ripping up water tanks and part of the homestead's roof.
ABC