WA: Cyclone Thelma threat almost over for north west residents

AAP General News (Australia)
12-11-1998
WA: Cyclone Thelma threat almost over for north west residents

By Alison Miller

PERTH, Dec 11 AAP - The threat of Cyclone Thelma in the north-west of Western Australia
seemed to be over tonight, with experts from the Bureau of Meteorology downgrading it to
category two.

Although there was still a possibility the cyclone would hit the coastal region near
Broome, previous fears of widespread damage to the town had diminished considerably.

Cyclone Warning Centre senior forecaster Barry Hanstrum confirmed the cyclone had weakened
substantially today. This morning it was still classified as category five, the highest
category, after gathering strength for several days, and 600 people were evacuated from the
Dampier peninula, north of Broome.

Mr Hanstrm said coastal areas between the Mitchell Plateau and Cockatoo Island, extending
southward to Derby and the Great Northern Highway, were subject to a category two warning but
the cyclone watch south-west to Wallal had been cancelled.

"Cyclone Thelma is estimated to be 85 kilometres south-east of Kuri Bay and 215 kilometres
north-east of Derby," he said.

According to Mr Hanstrum, destructive winds with gusts of up to 150km/h were likely as it
moved further inland.

A flood warning has been issued for the north and western regions of the Kimberley.

Cyclone Thelma has already passed the remote region of Kununurra, but according to locals
it made very little impact.

However, Kununurra State Emergency Service volunteers were carefully monitoring the
Kalumburu River for possible floods.

Local SES manager John Hobbs said his crew was watching water levels and if problems
occurred with flooding, they were prepared to carry out emergency evacuations.

"Floods could become a problem at the Kalumburu River but at this stage we are not
panicking - we are just keeping an eye on the situation.

"It (the river) has risen significantly and we are ready to act accordingly if necessary,
but reports so far indicate that the cyclone has gone past and everything seems to be OK," Mr
Hobbs said.

Broome police sergeant Eddie Clouter said although reports indicated the cyclone would be
further downgraded to category one in the next 24 hours, police in the region would continue
to maintain a cyclone watch until late tomorrow.

"Reports we have suggest Thelma will be downgraded before hitting Fitzroy Crossing, which
will suffer from about 100 mils (millimetres) of rain," Sgt Clouter said.

"However, we are still staying on alert and monitoring the situation closely, but it
definitely looks as if the worst is over."

AAP ajm/wjf

KEYWORD: THELMA DOWNGRADE LEAD

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