Cyclone Christine still battering Pilbara nine hours after landfall
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Version 0 of 1. Tropical cyclone Christine continues to batter the Pilbara in Western Australia more than nine hours after it made landfall, dumping more than 100mm of rain in just a few hours on parts of the coast. The cyclone has been downgraded to category two and is tracking south after crossing the coast between Whim Creek and Roebourne. It is expected to swing south-east before losing its cyclone status but will still be holding together when it crosses the South Australian border on Wednesday. A spokesman for the Bureau of Meteorology’s cyclone warning centre, Neil Bennett, said Christine crossed the coast between Whim Creek and Roebourne about midnight local time with gusts of more than 170km/h. “It’s still got gusts of about 130km/h and although it has been downgraded, it’s still dangerous,” he said. Bennett said he expected the cyclone to be downgraded to a storm late on Tuesday night or early on Wednesday morning. “The rain is going to ease but it will still be carrying winds of about 65km/h and gusts could be about 90km/h, though only in small sections,” he said. Roeburn recorded 130mm during the cyclone before the gauge stopped working about midnight and Abydos North, south-east of Port Hedland, recorded the most rain at 168mm. The superintendent of the Western Australia Department of Fire and Emergency Services (DFES), Merv Austic, said there had been a variety of calls for assistance overnight when the storm hit. "We've had 28 calls for various types of assistance, from power poles being down to roofs being lost to trees falling on houses, but in general it's been pretty good with not too many calls at this stage," he told ABC 24. "The problem that we've got at the moment [in assessing the damage] is that most of the communities are still on red alert, which basically means that everyone is bunkered down and there can be no movement." Roebourne, Karratha and Point Samson had their power and water supplies disrupted because of the cyclone. Water Corp has advised that the Yule borefield, which supplies Port Hedland, will be significantly affected by the cyclone. Our editors' picks for the day's top news and commentary delivered to your inbox each morning. |