Tropical Cyclone Damien shattered the Pilbara in February of this year, and the clean up is still taking place. The category-3 tropical cyclone clean up at present has costed the City of Karratha $5 million, but local authorities have reported that there is still work to be done.
Local suppliers have received about $4 million of the money to date, after areas such as Port Hedland, Dampier and Karratha felt the brunt of the cyclone.
Mayor of Karratha, Peter Long has confirmed that clean-up costs could get to $6 million dollars. As the authorizer of emergency funds, Long has commented that some contractors had been delayed due to COVID-19 travel restrictions.
Emergency financial assistance was provided to the local government areas of Karratha, East Pilbara, and Port Hedland in the aftermath of the cyclone. The funds, made available under the Federal Government’s Disaster Recovery Funding program aided communities with the cost of clean up and structural repairs.
The category-3 cyclone saw winds of 280km/h along the coast of Dampier and over 200mm of rainfall in Karratha. The most prominent damage saw the loss of roofs for properties in the Karratha, Point Samsom, Dampier, and Wickham areas.
With the majority of tradesmen in the area already busy with cyclone repairs, it has been hard to find contractors, Mayor Long said. The interstate travel restrictions due to the coronavirus pandemic have also made it unprecedently difficult sourcing contractors from Perth, who have to travel north through intrastate borders.
Day-to-day operations of workers in the city have also been impacted due to the slow recovery of public infrastructure and property that were significantly destroyed.
National parks in the area also saw a significant amount of damage from Cyclone Damien as it moved inland. Millstream National Park has remained closed since February and deployed earthmoving equipment has had to wait for roads to dry out before commencing work.
Many signs including ranger and traffic signs surrounding Karratha and the airport have all had to be replaced. Local park maintenance has also been a target of clean up with cricket nets, fences, poolside doors, gates, and lighting all being subject to repair or replacement. Water infrastructure has also seen a significant need for repair in the Dampier and Karratha areas.
Flash flooding and dangerously high wind speeds have been attributed to the damage caused by Cyclone Damien sweeping across the region. Experts have traced the cause of the cyclone to unseasonably warm weather especially in Europe, and other regions across the world in February which created a high-pressure build that reached Australia’s North West.
