Western Australia is bracing for a once-in-a-decade weather system, which reached cyclone intensity late this afternoon.
Tropical Cyclone Ilsa has reached category one and is expected to intensify rapidly to a category four storm before it crosses the state's coastline between Broome and Port Hedland in the coming days.
The Bureau of Meteorology issued an official notice that the tropical low it had been watching for days had formed into a cyclone just after 2pm (4pm AEST).
It was located about 400 kilometres north-west of Broome and 700 kilometres north-east of Port Hedland, moving south-west at 13km/h.
The Bureau said there was a significant risk the system would become a severe tropical cyclone on Wednesday.
It is expected to track to the south then south-east on Thursday, with a severe impact likely to be along the coast and adjacent inland areas between Port Hedland and Broome on late Thursday or early Friday.
As the weather system approaches, residents in the state's far north have spent the day preparing.
Port Hedland locals are concerned about the severity of the weather system, particularly the damage and destruction if it is to hit the town on Thursday night.
Some residents in the community are starting to secure lose items but more have started preparing for the cyclone by shopping.
Locals have stocked up on supplies at the supermarket with the shelves at the bottled water aisle looking bare.
It is expected the cyclone will hit near Eighty Mile Beach on Thursday night, about 250 kilometres east of Port Hedland.
The Department of Fire and Emergency Services (DFES) said the caravan park will be evacuated on Wednesday.
Residents in the area are already working to secure their property before wind gusts of up to 200km/h hit the area.
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More help is arriving in Port Hedland to assist the community.
Almost 30 DFES officers were sent to the Pilbara on Monday.
Another 10 State Emergency Service volunteers will arrive alongside six vehicles on Wednesday.
The last cyclone originating in Australian waters to make landfall on the mainland was Cyclone Ellie on December 22 last year.
'While that storm's winds didn't cause widespread damage, the system was notable because of its persistence as a tropical low which delivered flooding rains far inland for weeks," a Weatherzone spokesperson said.
"There are early indications that Ilsa could also bring heavy rains far inland, albeit to different parts of the interior.
"But before that happens, its immediate impacts on coastal communities and nearby areas could be far more severe."
'Keep up to date'
Earlier, Fire and Emergency Services Commissioner Darren Klemm said the communities between Broome and Port Hedland needed to be enacting their emergency plans.
"Clean up around home, have your emergency kit, and keep up to date with warnings," he said on Monday.
"Make sure you're prepared, there is no excuse for not being prepared."
Klemm said it had been 10 years since a cyclone greater than category 3 hit the north of Western Australia.
"There are many people who have not experienced a category 4," he said.
Klemm urged any holidaymakers or people travelling in caravans between Port Hedland and Broome to leave immediately and head south.
"If you're in a caravan in that area, now is the time to be changing your travel plans," he said.
The highways in the area are expected to be closed for more than 48 hours as the cyclone tracks inland.
Emergency services are working with remote Indigenous communities to ensure all the resources are available before the cyclone makes landfall.
Residents in the disaster-stricken Fitzroy Valley are expected to avoid major impact from the cyclone.
Residents are urged to keep up with weather warnings on the bureau's website.
It will be the third cyclone to hit Australia this year after Cyclone Ellie caused chaos in the Kimberley region with intense flooding and destruction and Cyclone Gabrielle swept across Queensland's north.
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2023-04-11 09:02:42Z
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