Northern and Mid West pastoralists and growers take stock after chaotic tropical cyclone Narelle

Mid West and Gascoyne pastoral stations are reeling from the “substantial” damage wrought by tropical cyclone Narelle, while Carnarvon banana growers are counting their losses after crops were decimated. A category four tropical cyclone — later downgraded to a category three — Narelle formed in the Pacific Ocean before hitting northern Queensland last week, moving over the coast of the Northern Territory and west towards the Indian Ocean, where it battered the coast in the Mid West, Gascoyne and Pilbara regions. Winds reached up to 220km/h between North West Cape and Coral Bay, with affected regions put on notice for potential flash flooding. It cut a swathe of destruction through WA’s North West on Friday — severing power to thousands of properties, flooding homes, ripping off roofs and uprooting trees as it ripped through. It’s the first storm system in 20 years — and the third recorded cyclone — to hit landfall across three of Australia’s States and Territories. The most severe impacts were felt along the Pilbara and northern Gascoyne coasts that were lashed by intense winds of up to 260km/h. Operations at Learmonth Airport were halted after it suffered extensive damage when the terminal’s roof was damaged. Sweeter Banana Co-operative business manager Doriana Mangili said her banana farm had suffered major damage with reports of between 50 to 80 per cent of crops damaged. Ms Mangili said they were going through crops to see what could be saved but the impact was “utterly devastating”. “Over the next couple of days, we’ll be trying to harvest what we can that’s fallen over that hasn’t been damaged to try and get as much fruit off,” she said. “We did pack everything as much as we could before the roads closed on Thursday to try and get as much fruit out as we could to keep the market going. “This is our third extreme weather event this year; January we had a heatwave, February we had a cyclone, now March we have a cyclone. “We’re already at about 50 per cent of production capacity, we’re going to be looking at very, very low volume.” Bullara Station Stay, between Exmouth and Coral Bay, suffered significant damage, owner Edwina Shallcross told Countryman. Ms Shallcross said on Friday the storm had been “battering” the station for about 10 hours — half of their homestead roof was ripped off forcing them to shelter in the kitchen. The 100,170ha working cattle station — a popular, award-winning tourism destination that was recently a filming location on Home and Away — was hit at 1am on Saturday. Staff were evacuated to nearby Cheela Plains Station for safety ahead of an “intense and frightening” 24 hours packed with powerful winds, flooding and widespread damage across the property. A Facebook post from the cattle station said on Saturday it was dealing with the severe damage wrought by the cyclone and were unable to open as they worked through “significant damage and loss”. “This has been a very challenging time for our team, and we truly appreciate your understand and support while we focus on recovery,” it said. Countryman understands some livestock on the station are unaccounted for. Video posted to Facebook showed floodwaters across the station and staff helping livestock to dry ground. Bullara Station said the extent of the damage was still unfolding. A post from Gnaraloo Station on Facebook said the 78,000ha property had sustained minimal damage. One roof was lifted while the homestead experienced some damage which was being assessed. Quobba Station took to social media after the storm to tell of the damage the property had sustained — the roof and some walls of the shearing shed were ripped off, some cottages sustained damage, broken branches and another roof was ripped off from the office patio. Melangata Station, about 70km north of Yalgoo, also escaped serious damage. Conditions in Exmouth eased on Friday afternoon, with residents venturing outside to see trees, fences and powerlines down amid other debris. Carnarvon residents, hit by wind gusts up to 170km/h were warned that severe impacts remained possible during the night. Shark Bay, Kalbarri and Geraldton residents were bracing for Narelle’s onslaught that night, albeit a category two cyclone with wind gusts up to 125km/h. Premier Roger Cook described Narelle’s destructive power as a “very confronting situation”, while Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said the Federal Government was ready to assist if needed and urged people in impacted communities to “look after each other”. The State Government announced on Sunday emergency relief payments for residents impacted by the cyclone. One-off payments of $4000 to secure emergency accommodation were made available for each household for whose homes were destroyed. A one-off $2000 payment was also made available to those whose homes were damaged. Mr Cook thanked emergency services and volunteers for their “critically important” efforts during the tropical storm. “This is a challenging situation, but together, we will ensure everyone who has suffered losses receives the support they need,” he said. Carnarvon locals on Monday were readying themselves to be cut off by dangerous flooding as water levels in the Gascoyne River reached about 6.1m, and were expected to climb to 6.5m. State Emergency Service teams received 96 call-outs for help in the Pilbara, and a further 54 in the Mid West and Gascoyne.