Cyclone Seroja: Army sets up tents at Geraldton’s Activewest Stadium while it helps with Mid West recovery

The Mid West has become a disaster zone, with the Army arriving to bolster recovery efforts and setting up a base in Geraldton for emergency crews helping cyclone-stricken communities. Usually home to basketball and netball games, the city’s Activewest Stadium is now home to Army personnel, Army vehicles, tents and many camping beds for weary emergency workers and volunteers. In a Facebook post, the Geraldton Amateur Basketball Stadium said Army staff and reservists would make the stadium their home for the next week. “They’re here to assist communities throughout the Mid West affected by TC Seroja,” the post read. “We’re very happy to play hosts and can’t thank them enough for helping out in this time of need.” A Defence spokesperson said more than 50 Army reservists from 13th Brigade and the Pilbara Regiment have arrived in Geraldton to support cyclone-affected communities. They have set up the temporary camp for 100 Department of Fire and Emergency Services personnel. “The ADF will work closely with DFES with recovery efforts including the clearance of roads and property, and movement of personnel,” the spokesperson said. A C-130J Hercules aircraft touched down in Geraldton late yesterday to help provide evacuations and to transport emergency services personnel and supplies, including food, water and generators to communities in need. ADF personnel and reservists are also set to help with the clean up efforts and help make towns like Kalbarri and Northampton functional again. Federal Minister for Agriculture, Drought and Emergency Management David Littleproud acknowledged the Mid West community needed immediate help. “A tropical cyclone crossing this far south is a rare event, so I commend the early planning and actions of the WA emergency services to prepare communities for the worst,” he said. Federal Member for Durack and Defence Industry Minister Melissa Price also welcomed the ADF support. “We’ve seen our Defence personnel helping time and time again through the bushfires, COVID and now helping cyclone-affected people in the Durack electorate,” she said. Extra police and DFES crews, including the SES, are helping with the early stages of what will undoubtedly be a lengthy and significant clean up. “Kalbarri will get through this, Kalbarri will come back from this, Kalbarri will rebuild,” Minister for Emergency Services Reece Whitby said yesterday. DFES duty operations officer Tim Dalwood told a packed community meeting in Kalbarri yesterday that a rapid damage assessment report was under way, but had yet to be wrapped up, and that HAZMAT technician teams were moving into the town to take control of the hazardous materials exposed in parts of the region. He stressed anywhere there was asbestos would legally be declared a “no-go zone” until they had been handled by designated teams. “The structural damage to the houses is great. There is so much damage out there,” Mr Dalwood said. Authorities estimate at least 75 per cent of Kalbarri has had some form of impact from the cyclone, with 35 per cent of the town having suffered major structural damage. At least 10 per cent of structures have been left completely uninhabitable, Mr Dalwood said. A further 100 DFES personnel, many of them volunteers were expected to arrive in the region today. Following them will be the touch-down of the 13th Brigade Army Reserve unit. A recon team from the 13th Brigade has yesterday already been deployed and was assessing the damage. Premier Mark McGowan, who flew in to Kalbarri yesterday, said it was “remarkable” that no one was killed or seriously injured in the “once-in-50 years” event.