Tropical Cyclone Zelia brought record rain for weather stations across state

A remote community in the Pilbara was forced to self-evacuate overnight as floodwaters in the wake of Cylcone Zelia threatened the town.

Residents living in a remote Pilbara community were forced to self-evacuate overnight as floodwaters in the wake of Cylone Zelia threatened the town.

On Friday morning the severe weather system rapidly approached the Pilbara coast, crossing the region at the De Grey River mouth just after midday local time.

In the final hour before impact, the cyclone was downgraded from a category five to a four, but it still packed a punch as it tore across the region.

Premier Roger Cook said while the system had weakened as it continued southward, it had brought significant rainfall inland of the Pilbara.

WA Premier Roger Cook said residents in Gooda Binya self evacuated overnight to Marble Bar and residents in Warralong were being relocated by emergency services. Picture: DFES.

He said two remote Aboriginal communities, at Warralong and Gooda Binya, were at significant risk of flooding.

“Residents of Gooda Binya self-evacuated to Marble Bar overnight,” he said.

“The Department of Fire and Emergency Services (DFES) is assisting with relocating residents from Warralong as we speak. 

“Some of WA’s pastoral stations have been hit hard, Degray and Carlindi Stations reported significant damage to their homesteads.

“Beyond that we’ve seen minor damage, which will require clean up and rapid damage assessment teams are on the ground, working out how we can assist emergency services.”

Port Headland in the wake of Cyclone Zelia. Picture: Facebook/Stephen Whale

The premier said residents in the Pilbara “were not quite out of the woods yet.”

“This system has dumped an enormous amount of rain on the Pilbara and will lead to ongoing flooding in the coming days,” he said.

“Driving in flood waters is incredibly dangerous. It can be life threatening.”

Emergency services received 60 call outs for help during the cyclone and safety inspections were underway at the port of Port Headland, which the premier expected to reopen on Saturday.

Most call outs were about fallen trees.

The Great Northern highway and a number of our other key roads remained closed while waters receded and repair work was carried out.

“We’re working closely with the major supermarkets to ensure the Pilbara and Kimberly remain well supplied while the road closures are in place,” the premier said.

“We’re also working with the federal government to activate Disaster Relief Fund recover arrangements to provide support for recovery efforts.”

Currently, there have only been reports of minor damage from Cyclone Zelia in Port Headland and no reports of injury or death. Picture: Facebook/Stephen Whale

Bureau of Meteorology senior meteorologist Angus Hines said in the last hour before coastal impact we saw a marginal decrease in the strength of the very strongest winds around the core of Zelia.

“Because of this, Port Hedland avoided the very destructive core of the tropical cyclone as it moved over land,” he said.

The cyclone still managed to smash parts of the Pilbara with nearby gauges reporting winds of 120km/h in Port Hedland, 109km/h in Marble Bar and 95km/h in Iron Bridge Mine.

Cyclone Zelia is causing chaos after landing on the WA coast. Picture: 7NEWS

While the cyclone uprooted trees and damaged properties, Mr Hines has said the region was “fortunate that the winds were not even stronger, which certainly could have been the case if the tropical cyclone had taken a different path.”

An exceptional volume of rain was also delivered across the Pilbara with parts of the coast around Pardoo registering 500mm of rain in three days.

From 9am on Friday to 3am on Saturday local time a further 278mm of rain was recorded at Upper North Pole weather station.

Marble Bar had 197mm and the isolated town of Telfer received 153mm – including 93mm in one hour.

“This is exceptionally rare for that location and that part of the world,” Mr Hines said.

Although the bureau has cancelled its tropical cyclone warning following the weakening of the severe weather system overnight, warnings still remain in place for floods, heavy rainfall and high winds.

Damage caused by Cyclone Zelia in Port Headland. picture: Facebook

The aftermath of the storm will be felt across the Pilbara region, which is already experiencing significant flooding and widespread road closures.

A severe weather warning is in place for heavy rainfall and covers inland parts of the Pilbara including around Newman, the Eastern Gascoyne, Three Rivers and parts of WA’s interior.

The bureau predicts rainfall totals of up to 120mm “which is a lot for this typically quite dry region”, Mr Hines said.

The De Grey River has a major flood warning in place and a broad flood watch continues across many rivers in northwestern WA with potential river rises coming in the next 24 hours.

Remnants of Ex-Tropical Cyclone Zelia are moving southward from the Pilbara region towards the interior of WA.

Winds associated with the system are expected to continue to weaken throughout Saturday.

Originally published as Tropical Cyclone Zelia brought record rain for weather stations across state