Top Enders see cyclone off and hope to start clean-up
Lloyd Jones |
Top End residents will launch into clean-up mode after enduring a rough and noisy night of damaging winds and heavy rain as tropical cyclone Fina swept by.
With top gusts of 195km/h and sustained winds near the centre of the system of 140km/h, Fina tore down trees, damaged houses and cut power in many places.
Households in Darwin, where gusts reached 107km/h, and surrounds were told by emergency authorities on Friday to stay in their homes or emergency shelters until given the all-clear.
Category-three Fina brought destructive winds and heavy downpours to remote Tiwi Islands communities, then Darwin and surrounds on Saturday and into Sunday.
It was a noisy and in many cases sleepless night for Darwin residents as high winds rattled, banged and shook everything in their path.
Northern Territory Police incident controller Kirsten Engels on Friday urged residents to stay at home, but the sweeping sheets of rain on the streets and high wind gusts forced people to remain indoors.
Emergency shelters were open in Darwin, nearby Palmerston and adjacent rural areas, with people urged to bring their own bedding and food.
Part of a ceiling at the Royal Darwin Hospital collapsed on Saturday but no one was hurt, Emma Carter of NT Police told ABC Radio Darwin.
“The reports are that a small section of ceiling approximately four square metres has collapsed on the first floor,” she said.
The Bureau of Meteorology advised early on Sunday Fina was moving away from the coast but a warning zone was still in place for Wadeye to Cape Hotham, including Darwin, the Tiwi Islands, Dundee Beach, Milikapiti, Pirlangimpi and Wurrumiyanga.
As of 8am AEDT, it was tracking 80km west of Darwin.
Heavy and intense rainfall which may lead to flash flooding is expected to continue around Darwin and adjacent inland areas during Sunday morning,
Destructive wind gusts to 155km/h are possible about the exposed coastal areas of the Cox Peninsula, including Dundee Beach for the next few hours, the bureau said.
Senior Meteorologist Angus Hines said central Darwin had 157mm of rain since 9am on Saturday recorded at the airport.
Fina is forecast to remain a severe tropical cyclone during Sunday as it moves southwest through the southern Timor Sea and is predicted to start weakening on Monday as it nears the north of the Kimberley coast.
At 6am Darwin time on Sunday residents were still being advised to stay in their homes as rain and gusts continued.
It’s expected the all-clear will be given later on Sunday when residents will emerge from their homes to inspect storm damage.
As householders tidy their front and back yards, repair crews will work to restore power and clean-up crews will clear the roads of debris.
Fina is reported to be the strongest cyclone to hit Darwin since cyclone Tracy largely destroyed the city, killing 66 people on Christmas Day, 1974.
AAP
