’Red alert’ over cyclone floods

RESIDENTS of the Pilbara are being urged to stay indoors until the weakening but still extremely dangerous tropical cyclone Veronica passes.

The Bureau of Meteorology said Veronica had weakened from a Category 3 storm, on a scale in which 5 is the strongest, to a Category 2, with sustained winds near its centre of 100km/h and wind gusts of up to 140km/h.

The storm was expected to continue to track west away from the coast of the sparsely populated Pilbara region of Western Australia and weaken below cyclone strength last night, the bureau said.

There have been no reports of injuries or major structural damage but damage assessment has only just begun.

The storm brought very destructive gusts of more than 200km/h as it tracked along the coast between Karratha and Port Hedland.

Premier Mark McGowan urged people to stay indoors because the vicious storm was moving slowly.

“People in that part of the world are used to cyclones but this one is different,” he said.

Widespread rainfall means major flooding over the Pilbara coast is likely.