Cyclone Narelle: Geraldton, Mid West braces for cyclone to hit doorsteps, warnings to prepare for worst

Geraldton locals are starting to feel the wrath of Tropical Cyclone Narelle, amid predictions it could move over the city as a weakened category two system on Saturday morning. The Mid West region between Exmouth and Dongara is being urged to prepare now as Cyclone Narelle gains strength and looks likely to cross the Shark Bay coast at force on Friday morning. Geraldton and the Mid West are likely to experience a weakened cyclone once it travels over Shark Bay and Carnarvon, yet should still be prepared for strong wind and heavy rainfall. The Bureau of Meteorology (BoM) said as of 9am on Thursday, Cyclone Narelle was measured at a category three system and was sitting 225km northwest of Karratha, likely to develop into a category four. Exmouth and Coral Bay were expected to feel the brunt of the category four system as it brushed the coast overnight and early on Friday morning. At the time of reporting, Geraldton was sitting within the “watch zone” which extended from the south of Carnarvon to Jurien Bay. Jessica Lingard, BoM meteorologist, said there could be a possibility the community threat could be upgraded to a “warning zone” and residents should remain up to date with both BoM and Department of Fire and Emergency Services (DFES) emergency alerts. Ms Lingard said it was likely the cyclone would then cross the coast at a category three level in line with the Shark Bay peninsula. “It’ll then move inland down towards the southeast and weaken fairly quickly,” she said. “By 8am on Saturday, we are expecting to downgrade the system to a tropical low. So, for residents along the Gascoyne and Mid West coastline should prepare for some very windy nights as the system draws near and past.” Ms Lingard said if the system was to reach Geraldton on Saturday at a category two level, residents could expect a strong cold front and average winds of 89 to 117km/h, with strong gusts between 125-164 km/h. The winds could be expected to be picking up over the coming days. Strong gusts have started buffeting the city already on Thursday, with wind gusts reported up to 87km/h. Shark Bay was set to experience category three winds between 118-160km/h, with strong wind gusts between 165-224km/h. “At these strengths, these are very destructive winds, and we can see some roof and structural damage, caravans being destroyed, significant damage to crops and trees, and power failures are likely,” Ms Lingard said. “In Geraldton, this will not be as severe. In the worst-case scenario, we will see is minor house damage, damage to street signs, trees, and possibly some damage to caravans and crops — also a risk of power failures.” Boat owners were advised to secure their crafts along the coast and within ports. In anticipation of the severe weather, the Mid West Ports Authority has suspended all port operations for departing vessels. “Mid West Ports has activated its cyclone response plan in line with forecast conditions with vessels departing the port as part of the standard safety procedures,” the authority said. “Our priority is the safety of people, vessels and infrastructure and operations will resume once it is safe to do so.” Jerry Clune, City of Greater Geraldton mayor, said the city would be on flood watch this weekend, yet the actual scope of the cyclone and its impact was still up in the air. “It’s very much for the impacted areas which are quite wide. So, we will be ever on the lookout,” Cr Clune said. “Of course, we’ll get a fair bit of fallen branches, trees, road damage and floodways. And then, the possibility of houses getting damaged as well is an impact in the in the Geraldton and Mid West we will be watching for.” Cr Clune said despite the category of the cyclone potentially looking to be downgraded by the time it reached Geraldton, it was still best to prepare for the worst. Four dedicated sandbag collection sites were put up around Geraldton on Thursday morning, with residents reporting the bags running low, despite huge mounds of sand remaining. At the Point Moore collection site, there was a steady flow of people throughout the morning with family, mates and neighbours helping each other fill the bags. Numerous community and sporting events planned for the coming weekend have all been cancelled ahead of Cyclone Narelle’s appearance. On Saturday, the Frothin’ Fools Grom Festival, the Geraldton Buccs season opener, the final weekend of the Geraldton junior girls football program, and the Anaconda store opening have all been cancelled in anticipation of damaging winds and rain. On Sunday, the cancer fundraiser event, Melanoma March, has also been cancelled. All events will be postponed to a later date. In preparation for the cyclone, Cr Clune recommended ensuring all mobile objects at risk of flying away in strong winds to be put away or tied down. Locals have started stockpiling food supplies for the weekend, with shelves selling out at Rigters IGA, Coles and Woolworths. Stuart Bain, Rigters IGA operations manager, said staff were seeing a larger amount of customers coming in to grab extra supplies or top up as other supermarkets in town had run out. “We’ve put limits in place on many items so everyone has a change to get some and to reduce panic buying. As stock levels on items change we will adjust limits up and down as needed,” he said. “We have many plans already in place to ensure the safety of our staff and customers, as well as extra deliveries and priority loads coming from Perth and other suppliers in preparation.” Mr Bain said all Rigters stores had back up generators which would be used for various purposes if needed. A Coles spokesperson said the supermarket giant planned well in advance for severe weather events and worked closely with suppliers and transport providers to move additional stock into affected areas. “We have been preparing for Cyclone Narelle by moving additional stock into our stores ahead of time. Our teams are closely monitoring weather conditions and any potential impacts to freight routes,” the spokesperson said. “Where there are disruptions, including road closures due to flooding, we will look to use alternative routes and transport options to keep deliveries moving.” “As always, our focus is on making sure our customers can access the essential items they need, and we thank our customers for shopping as normal while our teams work hard to keep shelves stocked.” This weather update was subject to change from the time of reporting.