Geraldton has lucky escape from cyclone Narelle as communities up north damaged by unpredictable weather

It was Geraldton’s lucky escape — when locals woke up on Saturday morning to a city left unscathed by the power of tropical cyclone Narelle, which bypassed the Mid West after pummelling communities in the Gascoyne.

Last week was filled with uncertainty and apprehension as the northern and Mid West coasts prepared for the destruction of Narelle, leaving Geraldton in a state of bewilderment when it failed to show up.

The Bureau of Meteorology labelled the long-lived system unpredictable as it caused severe destruction and devastation to the northern part of WA, before leaving the Mid West untouched.

Once Narelle made the coastal crossing between Coral Bay and Cape Cuvier on Friday afternoon, the system rapidly weakened in strength and took a more eastern, inland path and completely bypassing Kalbarri and Geraldton.

Inland towns including Mullewa and Morawa were also anticipating feeling the brunt of the storm as it took an eastern path inland on Saturday morning, yet also reported a somewhat “quiet night”.

Ex-tropical cyclone Narelle hit Mullewa on Saturday as a tropical low and brought wind gusts up to 100km/h.

BoM was originally expecting to downgrade the system to a tropical low at 8am Saturday, however made the call early at 6am.

Earlier in the week, Geraldton was forecast to expect a category two cyclone early Saturday, after the system strengthened over the Indian Ocean before unleashing on Exmouth.

Jessica Lingard, BoM meteorologist, told the Geraldton Guardian on Friday morning this prediction had been further downgraded with a category one system likely as the cyclone swirled closer to the Mid West coast.

Yet, this was not the case.

Expected wind speeds in a category one system reach between 63-88km/h, with strong wind gusts up to 125km/h.

The strongest wind gust recorded overnight on Friday at Geraldton Airport was only 56km/h, with only 1.6mm of rain recorded.

It was clear the city had dodged a major bullet.

Geraldton resident Katie Perella had prepared for the worst but counted herself lucky the cyclone didn’t come close to the city.

“We were told it was going to be a category two cyclone, which is something I’ve never had to prepare for before,” she said.

“We charged up all our electronic goods, made sure we had groceries at home, had sandbags at the doors around the house, a medical kit in the hallway, which we were told is the safest place to bunker down in the cyclone.

“We packed away all the wood and things out in the yard, but overnight there’s been absolutely nothing, barely a sprinkle of rain and what feels like normal to low winds for Geraldton.

“We’ve been really lucky.”

Exmouth and Coral Bay were not as lucky, experiencing a trail of destruction when the cyclone made its way past.

Exmouth locals have banded together to clean-up the town after being battered by a category four system with wind gusts exceeding 250km/h.

The popular tourist town experienced more than 12 hours of intense conditions, leaving the evacuation centre, countless houses and buildings damaged or in ruins. On Monday morning, 1238 homes remained without power.

Exmouth local Leith Holtzman said the 12-hour ordeal was terrifying. He said it felt like a dinosaur was outside his house, roaring to get in.

“It was like it’s trying to tear into (my) house,” he said.

“From 4am to 6am it was horrific,” he said. “I couldn’t fit under the bed, but had about half my body under the bed.”

Now, Exmouth is counting the potential cost to its tourism industry, with Narelle striking the week before the popular Easter and school holiday break.

Cyclone Narelle travelled halfway across the country, originally beginning off the coast of Queensland before making its way across the top of the country and down the North West coast.

Ms Lingard said a “loud cheer went up around the office” when the bureau finally downgraded the weather system to a tropical low on Saturday morning after 10 days of intensity.

As Geraldton counted its lucky stars on Saturday morning, mayor Jerry Clune said a real sense of relief was felt by the city.

“It was the best result we could have hoped for . . . it was good practice though,” he said.

“Days ago, the weather bureau said the tracking pattern is this, and that it could be anywhere within 400km of that.

“They told us don’t emphasise on middle line because it could go either way of that. So, we had to take caution.”

About 35 people spent Friday night in the evacuation centre set up at Geraldton Amateur Basketball Association, including rough sleepers and travellers.

Of the people taking refuge at the stadium, a group of backpackers on a trip around the west coast spoke highly of the facilities.

Filip Kamer, Isobel Schwesig, Finja Winter and Kristian Humphrey decided to come to the evacuation centre for peace of mind, after strong winds made sleeping in their rooftop tent difficult the night before.

Ms Winter said the free food, coffee and tea facilities, and shower were a nice change after being on the road, and Mr Kamer agreed the burgers provided were a bonus.

Further north, BoM advised that moderate flooding was likely on Monday afternoon at Nine Mile Bridge.

The heavy rainfall caused by cyclone Narelle has led to elevated river levels. Flooding has eased at Lyons River and Gascoyne River to Jimba.

The Gascoyne River at Nine Mile Bridge was at 6.02m and rising Monday morning, with minor flooding.

Carnarvon entered a Flood Watch and Act, at 9am on Monday morning. The Department of Fire and Emergency Services urged anyone in the Carnarvon townsite not to walk, swim, or play in floodwaters, and follow directions from emergency service personnel.

Thousands of homes lost power over the weekend across Exmouth, Coral Bay and Carnarvon. Horizon Power released a statement that it was working with DFES to restore power as soon as it was safe to do so.

By Monday, Horizon Power said that power had been restored to all homes in Carnarvon.

Eddie Smith, president of the Shire of Carnarvon, said that “there will be a few properties flooding” but they hadn’t seen a huge amount of damage over the weekend.

“Be careful travelling around, and try and stay away from the water,” Mr Smith advised anyone travelling in Carnarvon.

“You can’t see under the water, just that you really don’t know what could be under there.”

On Monday morning, the North West Coastal Highway was closed in both directions from Shark Bay Road to Carnarvon, and again from Blowholes Road to Nanutarra Roadhouse.

Emergency services in the Carnarvon area reminded motorists not to drive through floodwaters or around road blocks.

A social media post from the Shire of Upper Gascoyne reminded drivers to obey the road closures: “Please stop destroying our dirt roads only to turn back when you reach river crossings. We have closed the roads for a reason!” the post said.

The impact on Carnarvon’s battered crops is still being assessed, though the Carnarvon Growers Association pointed out that “bananas again getting a third major beating this season” after a heatwave in January and cyclone Mitchell in February.

In the Mid West and Gascoyne, there were 15 call-outs to SES for assistance on Friday and Saturday. Seven of those came from Carnarvon, including for a tree fallen on a home.

The other eight calls for assistance were from Spalding, Geraldton, Wandina, Utakarra and Morgantown.

Relief payments were being made available to those who needed emergency financial assistance to due damage from the cyclone.

The Premier’s Relief Payments of a one-off $4000 payment per household is available to “eligible applicants whose homes were destroyed and who are permanently unable to return home”.

A one-off $2000 payment per household is available to residents whose homes suffered major damage as a result of the severe winds and flooding.

These payments were designed to provide immediate relief for essentials such as food, clothing, accommodation and transport.

“This is a challenging situation, but together, we will ensure everyone who has suffered losses receives the support they need,” Premier Roger Cook said.

Mr Cook was set to visit the Gascoyne region on Monday to meet with locals and assess the damage.

On Monday morning, Geraldton schools and unsealed roads were reopened after closing on Friday in anticipation of the storm.