At Pardoo Roadhouse and Tavern, where Cyclone Ilsa has left a $4 million damage bill in its wake, the devastation is extensive.
When the category 5 storm made landfall in Western Australia, north-east of Port Headland, with wind gusts up to 289 km/h, trees were uprooted, trucks were knocked over, and gas stations were pulled from the ground.
After producing what was possibly the highest wind gust ever recorded in Australia, Ilsa has now been downgraded to a tropical low, but Western Australia’s acting emergency services minister has warned that the storm’s threat “is not over yet” as it creeps farther inland.
The strongest wind gusts ever recorded by the Bureau’s equipment in Australia, according to Todd Smith, the Bureau of Meteorology’s manager of hazard preparedness and response, who was speaking in Perth on Friday. “We’re going to do some checks on the data there, but it’s likely that that will go down as the strongest wind gusts ever recorded by the Bureau’s equipment in Australia,” he said.
Therefore, it just serves to highlight how potent this system was as it got closer to the coast.
After the storm passed, the roadhouse was left with just two accomodation dongas—sheds used as temporary lodging.
Emergency service personnel have been unable to locate five further victims who were entirely blown away by the storm.
Varinder Batth, a 36-year-old father who owns the roadhouse, and his business partner were forced to seek refuge in a shipping container when the storm passed over the location and left behind significant damage.
I didn’t stop shaking for at least two hours after we arrived there, he claimed.
“We down sat there for at least about four hours, but it felt like four days.”
A GoFundMe page has already been created because insurance is not likely to pay the entire damage price, which Batth estimates to be approximately $4 million.
The WA government has not yet announced any cash for disaster relief.
As it advances more inland and through the mining town of Telfer in the far eastern Pilbara, the tropical low is predicted to pour rain across Australia for several days.
In the center of the North Interior, east of Kunawarritji, the ex-tropical cyclone is currently producing sustained winds of 65 km/h with wind gusts of 95 km/h.
On Saturday morning, when it moves into the southern portions of the Northern Territory, the remains of Ilsa will continue to deliver severe gusts.
Before changing course hours before hitting the coast, Ilsa was traveling directly toward Port Headland when she made landfall.
The area “dodged a bullet” with that shift in direction, according to the Bureau of Meteorology.
Following a 24-hour closure in anticipation of the weather event, the port reopened on Friday morning.
Port Hedland escaped last night’s storm because of the cyclone’s late-afternoon shift in direction to the south-east, according to Smith.
“As far as we can tell, the majority of the impacts are farther to the east, and in Port Hedland, the system is tracking about 150 kilometers further along the track, the impacts were really minimal.”
According to Smith, the storm is anticipated to keep moving east until losing its cyclone intensity and entering the Northern Territory.
However, despite its deterioration, interim emergency services minister Sue Ellery claimed that Ilsa still posed a threat.
This event is in real time. Please take care of yourself, your family, and remain safe in all of the villages in the Pilbara and the Kimberley.
“The severe Tropical Cyclone Ilsa’s effects are not yet over.”
