National

Residents count the cost after cyclone ravages towns

Mar 28, 2026

Cyclone Narelle dust storm — Cyclone Narelle kicked up a dust storm in Carnarvon as it cut a swathe across Western Australia. -PR IMAGE

Residents in a series of isolated coastal towns battered by a destructive cyclone are emerging from their homes to assess the damage.

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Tropical Cyclone Narelle was downgraded to a category two system overnight after making landfall in Western Australia's northwest.

The storm left a trail of destruction in the Pilbara and North West Cape before crossing the coast near Coral Bay and heading for Carnarvon.

Shire president Eddie Smith said Carnarvon had been blanketed by a thick, pink dust storm for about two hours, and wind gusts topped 100km/h.

Holiday town Exmouth, 1250km north of Perth, copped the full force of Narelle's fury when the category four storm generated winds in excess of 250km/h.

Roofs were torn off buildings, power was lost, homes were flooded and about 50 people had to abandon the isolated town's evacuation centre when it sustained wind damage.

Narelle tracked south to Coral Bay and made landfall just south of the tiny town before weakening to a category three system.

The storm passed to the east of Carnarvon on Friday afternoon as a category three before further weakening into a category two system northeast of Kalbarri and Geraldton.

"We're expecting some pretty significant damage," Department and Fire and Emergency Services Commissioner Darren Klemm said on Friday.

"As we get a clearer picture of the extent of the damage, (emergency services) will continue to work with the local governments and communities in the region to determine what sort of support they need for the ongoing impacts."

Exmouth was expected to be severely impacted, Mr Klemm said.

Narelle was an "incredibly complex cyclone" because of the track it took from the Kimberley down the Pilbara coastline, he said.

"It was always going to have multiple impacts into multiple towns as it came down the coast."

Narelle is expected to continue its southeast trajectory into the northern Wheatbelt on Saturday.

Damaging winds and heavy rainfall are possible in southeast WA, as the system passes through the Wheatbelt region before moving off the south coast into the Southern Ocean.