Port Hedland’s SES deputy manager, Barry Harrison, told ABC News Breakfast that the region “really dodged a bullet” when the cyclone moved east, taking destructive winds away from the regional centre, despite earlier fears it would take a direct hit.
Zelia approached the Western Australian coast with winds of up to 290km/h, initially sparking fears in Port Hedland of Cyclone Ilsa’s deadly impact in 2023 when eight people died.
Tropical Cyclone Zelia made landfall in the north-west of Western Australia on Friday and was quickly weakened as it crossed the coast east of Port Hedland.
“In many places, especially around Port Hedland, it is fortunate that the winds were not even stronger which certainly could have been the case if the tropical cyclone had taken a different path,” he said.
Surrounding areas suffered property damage when winds of up to 120km/h struck, but the strongest parts of the system – which was at category four when it made landfall – hit remote areas, according to Angus Hines, a senior meteorologist at the Bureau of Meteorology.
