Cyclone Seroja to hit Australia
Australian authorities yesterday urged holidaymakers to evacuate a stretch of the country’s western coastline in the path of a cyclone that has devastated parts of Indonesia and East Timor.
Tropical Cyclone Seroja is expected to hit Western Australia late Sunday or early Monday after tracking south.
It is forecast to bring “destructive winds with gusts of 150km per hour and intense rainfall that could cause flash flooding” on parts of the coast, the Bureau of Meteorology said.
Emergency services warned holidaymakers — many camping or travelling in caravans — to leave ahead of forecast weekend storms that would be quickly followed by the cyclone.
“If you remain in the area in a tent or caravan, you are at risk,” said assistant commissioner Paul Ryan, adding that these structures were “highly dangerous” in wild weather.
Local residents were also urged to prepare emergency kits and ensure their homes were ready for the expected impact.
The cyclone is forecast to make landfall in a relatively isolated part of Western Australia as a Category 2 or 3 system.
Almost 180 people were killed in Indonesia and neighbouring East Timor earlier this week after the cyclone proved one of the most destructive storms to hit the region in years. Dozens more are still missing and thousands have been left homeless.
Meanwhile, Indonesian navy ships packed with aid arrived yesterday in a cyclone-ravaged section of the archipelago.
Local authorities declared a state of emergency for East Nusa Tenggara — among Indonesia’s poorest provinces and the epicentre of the disaster — until early May.
In Indonesia, the navy vessels docked at Lembata and Adonara islands with a hospital ship that was also en route to the ravaged area.
The storm on Sunday swept buildings in some villages down a mountainside and to the shore of the ocean on Lembata.
The navy vessels are packed with food, including rice and noodles, as well as blankets and other materials for some of the region’s more than 20,000 evacuees.
“Another ship will arrive later today (yesterday) carrying military personnel who will be deployed to help people in the aftermath of the disaster,” said Kompiang Aribawa, a regional naval base chief, yesterday.