Cyclone Clare hits WA coast
See story here and here
As usual though, the news reports get some things wrong. Dampier is only 12 kilometres from Karratha, so basically, if Dampier got the full force, so did Karratha. But still, for a category 3 cyclone (the worst is category 5), it did quite a lot of damage.
My sister lives in Karratha, luckily they were here in Perth when the cyclone hit. North west towns are prepared for cyclones, but this one has been the first to hit Karratha in 18 years. People were evacuated, because of the threat of tidal surges. The devastation is quite unbelievable. Flash flooding, trees uprooted, houses have lost roofs, boats being smashed against beaches etc. The north west region is quite arid. Very hot temperatures normally, so to see the area flooded is quite unnatural. Roads were closed, bridges totally destroyed.
My sister and her family were lucky to get home tonight. They drove all the way from Perth today, probably an 18 hour drive non stop. The roads had just been opened, but still quite unstable for normal cars. Lucky they have a 4WD. I just received a phone call from her, she's said the town is still totally blacked out, no power anywhere, but satellite phone calls can be made. She's totally lost her garden, her 15 foot high palm trees are no longer there, nor are her banana trees. There's a gum tree in her swimming pool, her back and side fences are totally gone, nowhere to be seen. She can't see the damage done to the house yet, as its just before midnight and there's no power.
It'll be a huge cleanup task for the towns, but thankfully the communities rally around to help each other in times like these. The awful thing is, the Weather Bureau are predicting another rain-bearing depression off the North West coast, that could develop into another cyclone. And the usual pattern is, the cyclones intensify as the season progresses. So this next one could be worse. I'm just hoping and praying it won't be.
