Cyclone Season

Monday marked the first day of cyclone season here in the northwest. From November 1st to April 30th, there is every chance that we will be hit by at least one cyclone, if not more. The northwest, between Broome and Exmouth, is the most cyclone prone part of Australia’s coastline – and that’s a big coastline. The area was subject to not a single cyclone last season (when we arrived in April it had been 16 months since it had last rained here) but this season they’re predicting at least two category 5 cyclones – the most severe and destructive on the cyclone scale. The Australian Bureau of Meteorology states that category 5 cyclones are, ‘extremely dangerous with widespread destruction.’ That doesn’t sound good. The Bureau elaborates with, ‘tropical cyclones are dangerous because they produce destructive winds, heavy rainfall with flooding and damaging storm surges that can cause inundation of low-lying coastal areas’. Right, that would be us then. I don’t know what to be more scared of, the storm surges or the ‘destructive winds [which] can cause extensive property damage and turn airborne debris into potentially lethal missiles.’ They certainly don’t mince their words – ‘potentially lethal missiles’ sounds like something a character would say in a disaster movie with a sense of foreboding in their voice, quickly followed by some dramatic music. This is seriously scary stuff.


Because of the very real threat cyclones pose, especially to communities like Karratha which live right on the coast in a low-lying, very flat area, each year the council provides a free clean-up service for residential areas. You’re responsible for trimming trees and removing loose items from your garden but if you put them at the front of your house, a big truck will come and take them away. The Husband spent an hour on Sunday evening hacking away at a particularly wayward tree which had grown beyond all proportions and was making its way across our roof. The trucks came on Monday, lifted up the branches and threw them into their beds, before moving on to the next house. There was an almighty racket and, peeping out through the window I spotted three or four trucks all advancing down the street like some sort of truck army. It was an impressive sight and brought home just how seriously people take cyclone season. The last thing most people want to do on their day off is clean up their gardens, especially in Karratha’s blistering heat, but the whole neighbourhood seemed to have rallied themselves to get it done – no-one wants a tree crashing through their window or a rogue length of hose hurtling its way across the sky and smashing through their own or someone else’s patio doors.

We’ve also got to prepare an emergency kit, including plenty of drinking water, canned or dried food, a torch, extra batteries, a portable stove, matches, candles and a first aid kit. In the event of a cyclone, the power and water will be shut off so we will have to fend for ourselves – not unlike camping, except with comfy beds and a roof over our heads (that is, as long as the roof doesn’t blow off ). The daunting thing is that research has shown that Australian cyclones are more erratic than in any other part of the world – the cyclone might last for a few days or a few weeks. I can’t imagine living like that for weeks on end – we’ll stink after weeks of having no air conditioning and being unable to wash and I don't even like baked beans that much!

They have predicted that we will get one of these potentially lethal category 5 cyclones before Christmas so any time from now we may be in trouble. Cue dramatic music...