SYDNEY, April 15 (Reuters) - Emergency authorities in
Western Australia were assessing damage on Saturday from a
tropical cyclone that hit the state's northwest, sparing heavily
populated areas but affecting several remote communities.
Ilsa, downgraded to a severe weather system, made landfall
in the sparsely populated Pilbara region of Western Australia
early on Friday with an intensity rating of 5, the highest.
The storm is the second extreme weather event this year in
the state's northwest. "Once in a century" floods lashed the
vast Kimberley region further north in January.
Western Australia Department of Fire and Emergency Services
Assistant Commissioner Rick Curtis said crews were surveying
damage in the "very large area" hit by Ilsa.
"There is a large path of destruction," Curtis told ABC
television, saying there had been damage to some homesteads and
station properties in the region.
"It’s quite a remote part of Western Australia so getting
support services to the area will take some time and effort."
The cyclone, which set a preliminary Australian record
10-minute sustained wind speed of 218 km per hour (135 mph),
missed the world's largest iron ore export hub at Port Hedland,
before moving inland.
As the focus shifted to recovery, the federal and state
governments on Saturday made emergency payments available to
affected residents.
"This cyclone has impacted on many extremely remote
communities and ... it may take some time to fully understand
the full extent of the impact," Acting Federal Emergency
Management Minister Andrew Giles said in a statement with
Western Australian counterpart Sue Ellery.
Australia's weather forecaster warned of possible severe
weather on Saturday in parts of the neighbouring Northern
Territory, including potential flooding in the outback town of
Alice Springs, as the ex-cyclone tracked east.
(Reporting by Sam McKeith in Sydney; Editing by William
Mallard)
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