Cyclones threaten West Australia iron ore region

Two tropical cyclones have formed off the Western Australia (WA) coast in the Carnarvon basin with one of them expected to make landfall either late on Sunday or Monday morning near the port of Geraldton, with wind speeds of up to 125km/h, coastal flooding and heavy rain. The port shipped around 10.7mn t of iron ore in the 2019-20 fiscal year to 30 June.

Cyclone Seroja is expected to develop into a category three cyclone and then reduce to a category two system when it makes landfall. It is forecast to bring rainfall over an area 700km east of the port of Geraldton that covers the midwest iron ore producing region of WA and as far south as state capital Perth, said Australia's Bureau of Meteorology (BoM).

The second cyclone, Odette, is expected to follow Seroja over the weekend but is not forecast to make landfall, the BoM said. Tropical cyclone Odette is only expected to be a short-lived system as it is likely to weaken during its interaction with tropical cyclone Seroja over the weekend. The system is likely to have weakened by Sunday over waters west of the Gascoyne coast, which is from Exmouth to south of Denham, the BoM said.

Tropical cyclone Odette is likely to weaken below tropical cyclone intensity before approaching the northwest WA, but there remains a risk of damaging winds and rain developing between Exmouth and Coral Bay during Saturday, the bureau said.

The impact from the two cyclones appear to have little impact on the main iron ore producing region in WA, the Pilbara region, which is to the north of the midwest iron ore producing region, the BoM said.

Seroja and Odette are the seventh and eighth cyclones of the 2020-21 cyclone season in Australia, and Seroja could be the first to make landfall in WA so far this season. The cyclone season typically ends in April.

By Kevin Morrison