Tiwi Islands community faces Cyclone Fina aftermath together
As Tiwi Islands residents come to terms with the impact of Cyclone Fina, this elder faces an uncertain future after a tree fell on her family home.
Tiwi Islands residents are coming to terms with the impact of Tropical Cyclone Fina and getting on with clean up efforts after a “frightening” night.
While Darwin felt the edge of the Category 3 system, the eye of the storm tracked much closer to Tiwi’s biggest community, Wurrumiyanga.
Thankfully no one was hurt, but dozens of trees down on roads, power lines and roofs evidenced the power of the storm.
Tiwi elder and artist Nina Black spent Saturday night in the local shelter at the urging of her grandchildren, returning home on Sunday to discover a large African mahogany tree had fallen on her home.
“It was scary,” she said.
“My grandson told me to move, I was going to stay there … the big wind came and we had to move out.”
Ms Black did not know how long it would be before she was allowed to return back home.
“I hope (soon), I wanna go back.”
Ms Black’s grandson, Jules Palipuaminni, said he cried when he saw the damage, and hoped it could be repaired.
“All of the family grew up in this house, since the early 90s,” he said.
“Brings back memories … we need a brick house!”
About 1400 people live in Wurrumiyanga, and many of the Bathurst Island homes are not built to cyclone code.
It was estimated more than 300 residents sheltered across Murrupurtiyanuwu Catholic Primary School and Xavier Catholic College, police doorknocking and shuttling people to the shelters well into the evening as Fina approached.
About 100 crammed into the Murrupurtiyanuwu school basketball court, forced to brave the storm if they wanted to access the bathrooms outside.
Principal Kellie McGinlay said it was noisy and dark, but the “families were amazing”.
“Those louvres are open – no rain comes in but you definitely got the full effect of the wind in here,” she said.
“But families were really lovely, they were in here looking after each other and they just kind of slept … then we gave everyone breakfast the next day.”
Ms McGinlay said about three quarters of the school’s trees were down, and she hoped they could be cleared in time to reopen on Wednesday.
“But kids will still be here, we’re feeding community so we’re cooking every day and getting food out there.”
NT Chief Minister Lia Finocchiaro visited the shelter on Monday.
“Right across the Territory we use schools, particularly in remote communities, as cyclone shelters – but they’re not fit for purpose,” she said.
“This is something that we continue to work with the federal government on to make sure that we’re upgrading those facilities where we can.”
Mrs Finocchiaro said the focus was now on restoring power and removing fallen trees.
“We’ve got teams on the ground here supporting the recovery efforts and that’s really ramping up (Monday and Tuesday), what we want is people getting back to normal life as soon as possible,” she said.
At a community barbecue on Monday spirits were high.
Locals gathered in the shade to escape the heat and chat about the eventful weekend.
“It was the biggest storm I saw,” Wurrumiyanga resident Benita Ullungura said.
“All the trees, it was very scary.”
Primary school student Lilliana Kerinaiua showed off the whistling sound made by the gale-force winds.
“It was like screaming,” she said.
“I was watching TV and then the TV was off, and then the cyclone came and made a real noise … it frightened me.”
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Originally published as Tiwi Islands community faces Cyclone Fina aftermath together
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