Tents at Marrara Stadium flattened by wild weather

EVACUEES from Tropical Cyclone Trevor were lucky to get through the night undisturbed before wild weather in Darwin tore apart their tents

EVACUEES from Tropical Cyclone Trevor were lucky to get through the night disturbed before wild weather in Darwin tore apart their tents.

Several tents at Marrara Stadium were flattened in the winds and rains, with one nearly blowing out of the fenced area.

Territory residents from Borroloola and Robinson River are making the Marrara Indoor complex their home for the time being as the communities find reprieve from Cyclone Trevor as it closes in on the coastal communities. Picture: Justin Kennedy

Robinson River resident Anthony Jack was one of the few who slept outside overnight.

“I was in this one here, it was blowing sideways,” he said.

“It was a bit scary, I thought ‘the tent’s gonna fly away’.”

Residents inside had nice conditions but still struggled to get to sleep.

“I was very devastated, I went for a walk just to put myself to sleep and that was nice because we had an aircon and the rain, helped us sleep, so that was nice,” Borroloola resident Jason McCracken said.

“They slept all right before the rain came this morning.”

Territory residents from Borroloola and Robinson River had a bit of a fright this morning when the tents where damaged in the winds, as the communities find reprieve from Cyclone Trevor at the Marrara sports complex in Darwin. Picture: Justin Kennedy

Others were without their possessions, which were still being held at the Darwin airport waiting to be transported to them, however essentials such as nappies, tampons, toothpaste and towels.

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Territory Families youth justice general manager Brent Warren said no exact time could be put on these events but he expected evacuees to still be in Darwin on Monday.

“Always plan for the worst and work with the best, we are anticipating at this stage we’ll have people here until next week, the tracking we’ve got around the cyclone says that it will still be moving inland as a cyclone on Sunday, potentially into Monday,” he said.

“As the tracking has changed there’s an increased level of comfort. Those people can stay safe in shelters over there.”

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Mr Warren said there were also a few people who chose to remain in their communities, though they had all been adequately informed about the cyclone’s trajectory.

“Obviously we brought people here to keep them safe from the weather event so we won’t be looking at returning them before we get the all clear at the other end.”

However the trajectory meant about 850 were left behind on Groote Eylandt, advised to go to buildings they know are safe.

“People are still staying in Angurugu and Alyangula … the advice would be they go to strong buildings, strong safe places to shelter,” Mr Warren said.

“There’s probably some people in outer areas of Borroloola that have elected to stay where they are at the moment,” he said.

“At the end of the day people are using their free choice about where they stay safe but our advice has been people in those areas need to get out, it’s quite a significant weather system.

“Everyone in the communities have been pleased with the level of communication and the advice they’ve been given, most people have taken up the offer to be transported out.”