No injuries after Cyclone Fina but major recovery effort underway
Nearly 20,000 homes lost power as Cyclone Fina battered Darwin, but the Territory has escaped the Category 3 system without injuries or widespread destruction.
No injuries and no major widespread property damage was recorded as Severe Tropical Cyclone Fina passed just north of Darwin on Saturday night.
Work to assess damage and clean up began at first light on Sunday morning, with trees down across the city.
More than 500 calls for help had been made to the SES by midday Sunday, and 19,500 homes and businesses had lost power over the 24 hour period.
Chief Minister Lia Finocchiaro said it was testament to Territorians’ preparedness that the damage was not worse.
“This cyclone saw a Territory that was united and prepared for what was to come, and as a result we’ve seen a largely minimal impact and no injuries,” she said at a press conference on Sunday.
Wurrumiyanga bore the brunt of the Category 3 system as it tracked slightly closer to the Tiwi Islands than the mainland, winds reaching up to 205km/h at the centre of the storm.
Senior Weather Bureau Meteorologist Chris Kent said Fina’s eye had passed 50km north of Darwin with the city spared the fiercest of the winds.
“Darwin recorded wind gusts of 107km/h, because it was a very small system the city did not receive the intense Category 3 strength winds at its centre,” he said.
“While Darwin didn’t see the peak winds, the amount of rainfall that fell with it largely helped a lot of large trees fall because of the soaked soil and the relentless 12 hours of winds.”
TC Fina smashed rainfall records across Greater Darwin and its surrounds.
Middle Point, about 50 km southeast of Darwin, copped 430mm in just 24 hours - the highest fall ever for that weather station.
Charles Point on the tip of the Cox Peninsula received 235mm in the 24 hours to 9am Sunday, smashing its annual record.
A number of November records were also broken. These included Gunn Point (283.6mm), Darwin (168.6mm), Leayner (177.6mm), Marrara (146.5mm), Humpty Doo (203.8mm), Noonamah (202mm), Batchelor Airport (180.8mm) and Point Stuart (138.2mm).
“Warnings have been reduced, and we want Territorians to be going back to their business as usual,” Mrs Finocchiaro said.
“Obviously, there remains significant debris, trees down and even powerlines, but Territorians who need to move around for essential reasons such as restocking their fridges, having to take items to dump points, and other necessary travel are encouraged to do so safely.”
The Australian Defence Force was on standby to help with clean up efforts if the NT government deemed it necessary.
Mrs Finocchiaro also flagged federal disaster funds likely to be unlocked for individuals and businesses as the scale and cost of recovery was confirmed in the coming weeks.
School principals were asked to visit their campuses to assess whether it was safe to open to students on Monday morning.
That would be decided on a school by school basis, and information communicated to parents on Sunday afternoon.
Mrs Finocchiaro said restoring power to schools was a government priority, but could not confirm when lights would be back on for all Territorians.
Asked if there could be a repeat of 2018 when Cyclone Marcus left some without power for two weeks, Mrs Finocchiaro said it was too early to say.
“I don’t expect so, but it could be days,” she said.
“I’m hopeful by the end of this afternoon (Sunday) that will be much clearer communication coming from Power and Water to Territorians about the length of time each suburb might have to sit tight and be ready to endure the outages.”
Wurrumiyanga was expected to be without power for some time, however it was believed there was extra diesel fuel that could be accessed.
Mrs Finocchiaro said no operations were impacted at Royal Darwin Hospital after a section of the roof collapsed during the storm.
“Last night we had a 4x4 metre square section of a ceiling collapse, there were no injuries to staff or patients, and it did not impact patient outcomes,” she said.
At the same time NT Health Minister Steve Edgington on Sunday asked the public not to visit relatives or friends at the hospital unless it was an emergency, as cyclone recovery continued.
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Originally published as No injuries after Cyclone Fina but major recovery effort underway
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