Tropical cyclone Seroja traveled 1,000 kilometer (621-mile) in Western Australia, leaving a trail of damage.
The third phase storm caused a landfall near the town of Kalbarri on Sunday with winds reaching 170km / h (105mph).
The storm was later reduced to tropical heat, although strong winds continued to blow southeast.
Horrible Situation
Residents reported demolished and fallen houses, fallen trees and fallen power lines.
A resident of Kalbarri, Debbie Major, said the storm, which hit the tourist town around 7pm local time (11:00 GMT), was active overnight and was “absolutely horrible”.
“Just thinking, this is it. I would have thought that when we opened the door, there would be nothing around us without that roof,” she told the Australian Broadcasting Corporation.
“We are a small town. Half of it has been flattened.”
What Are The Authorities Saying?
Meteorological officials say Hurricane Seroja has maintained its strength and resilience “Sunday night, as it now shifted from Kalbarri to Geraldton on the coast, and inland across the state’s Wheat Belt.
Paramedics said about 70% of the buildings in Kalbarri, home to about 1,500 people, were damaged by the storm.
Many cities in the southeastern state remain “under a red flag” on Monday, meaning residents have been advised to take refuge elsewhere, and as a result thousands of homes have been left homeless.
Damaged Homes And Roofs
A resident of Kalbarri told a West Australian newspaper that he was forced to hide in a pantry with his pregnant wife and their dog.
“I heard a few windows shatter and a huge explosion. I went upstairs and looked and felt it was raining. I didn’t look but I thought I had lost some of my roof,” said Jason Regan.
Darius Winterfield, a reporter for Channel 9 news in Kalbarri, lost his roof on his balcony and said the storm would be “devastating for many come first light”.
Paramedics received 175 calls for help on Monday, a spokesman for the Fire and Emergency Services Department told the BBC.
Emergency government subsidies are provided to affected citizens.
Prior to the storm, Premier Mark McGowan warned that the storm was “like nothing we have seen before in decades”. The Bureau of Meteorology said it was the first cyclone to hit some affected areas since 1956.
Last month, areas of eastern Australia were evacuated as rivers and dams overflowed in the worst floods in decades, with around 18,000 people displaced.
