Cyclone Ilsa batters Western Australia, breaks decade-old wind record, brings trail of destruction

Cyclone Ilsa battered the western coast of Australia with wind windspeeds reaching recording-breaking 218km/h—a feat set 10 years ago in the same place.

The tropical cyclone made a landfall between De Grey and Pardoo Roadhouse as a highest-severity category 5 storm on Monday, according to the Australian Bureau of Meteorology. Category 5 storm is considered to be really dangerous.

But it was later downgraded to category 4 Atlantic hurricane, after it reached the coast near Pardoo Roadhouse around 140km east of Port Hedland. Eventually, Western Australia’s acting emergency services minister, Sue Ellery, announced that the storm was further downgraded category 2 system

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According to the weather department, Ilsa set a record for a 10-minute-sustained wind speed of 218km/h at Bedout Island just off the coast. The previous record holder was Cyclone George in 2007 which had windspeeds of 194km/h at the same location.

No casualties were reported so far as residents in some areas were urged to seek shelter immediately, as the storm – currently with gusts of up to 285km/h – made its approach, reports Guardian newspaper.

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“That is going to cause a heap of damage. Any houses that aren’t built to code are going to suffer extensive damage ... Fortunately, it looks like the system is going to cross in a relatively unpopulated part of the coast,” said Todd Smith, a Bureau of Meteorology spokesman, reports Guardian.

Officials are assessing the damage the cyclone caused on Western Australia, though they believe that the winds had the potential to cause significant damage to trees, buildings, power lines and other infrastructure.

They were planning to survey the damage from the air when it was safe enough to fly helicopters over the area, reports CNN.

According to local media reports, the cyclone skipped past the main population centres, including the town of Port Hedland, an important hub for the mining industry and home to about 16,000 people, mostly mine workers.

“The fact that the cyclone took a south-eastward shift in the track late yesterday afternoon really means that Port Hedland dodged a bullet last night. Most of the impacts as we’ve seen are further to the east, and the impacts in Port Hedland were really light with the system tracking about 150km further along the track,” Smith added.

(With inputs from agencies)

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