Exmouth Residents Confront Widespread Devastation After Cyclone Narelle's Fury
Communities along Western Australia's coastline are confronting catastrophic damage following the overnight passage of Ex-Tropical Cyclone Narelle, which unleashed winds exceeding 250 kilometres per hour before being downgraded to a tropical low on Saturday. The category four storm left a trail of destruction across the Pilbara and North West Cape regions, with the holiday town of Exmouth—located approximately 1,250 kilometres north of Perth—bearing the brunt of its impact.
'Devastation Everywhere You Look' as Town Fundamentally Changed
Exmouth resident Craig Kitson described scenes of utter devastation to AAP, stating, 'There's pretty much devastation everywhere you look. The town has fundamentally changed.' The storm's ferocity tore roofs from buildings, caused widespread power outages, flooded numerous homes, and forced about fifty people to evacuate a local shelter after it sustained significant wind damage. While Kitson lost a fence and spent the night under a leaking roof, he considers himself fortunate compared to others whose homes were completely destroyed.
'It was definitely a harrowing night there for a lot of people,' Kitson remarked, adding that 'some people's lives have been drastically changed.' Local assessments suggest the storm felt as severe as any in recent memory, with some residents comparing it unfavourably to a category five cyclone in 1999 due to its prolonged duration and intensity.
Emergency Response and Ongoing Weather Threats
By Saturday morning, thousands of homes and businesses in Exmouth and Carnarvon remained without electricity, while nearly forty Pilbara residents had requested assistance from the State Emergency Service—twenty-nine of them in Exmouth alone. Narelle initially made landfall on Friday evening just south of Coral Bay before weakening to a category three system, tracking southward and eventually being downgraded to a tropical low northeast of Kalbarri and Geraldton.
Overnight, the Bureau of Meteorology recorded wind gusts above 120km/h in parts of the Gascoyne region alongside rainfall totals reaching 100 millimetres, heightening risks of flash flooding and road closures. Although the system continues to lose intensity as it moves inland, it still produces powerful wind gusts and heavy rainfall. A watch and act alert remains active from west of Onslow to Coral Bay, with advice-level warnings covering much of Western Australia.
A flood watch extends from Exmouth south to Perth's Swan River, with the system expected to pass east of the state capital on Saturday afternoon before continuing southeast and crossing into the Southern Ocean by evening. Authorities are urging residents to remain vigilant as recovery efforts begin amidst ongoing weather hazards.
