Severe Tropical Cyclone Trevor has smashed into the Northern Territory coast bringing with it wind gusts up to 250 kilometres per hour and heavy rain.
The Bureau of Meteorology told the ABC ‘very dangerous’ storm tides and large waves were also expected, with the possibility of flooding and ‘a hurricane-force wind warning for the Roper Groote Coast’.
The cyclone made landfall just south-east of the Sir Edward Pellew Islands, not far from the town of Borroloola , a favourite with many grey nomads during the season.
Borroloola, with a population of approximately 1,600, has been nearly completely evacuated, along with the Gulf communities of Numbulwar and Robinson River. Around 2,100 evacuees have been registered with the NT Government at shelters in Katherine, Tennant Creek, Darwin and Nhulunbuy.
“The weather in Borroloola is starting to become severe as Trevor moves inland, with similar damaging and stronger destructive wind gusts expected this afternoon,” the Bureau of Meteorology said in its latest update. “The system is expected to remain at tropical cyclone strength until Sunday morning, when it will transition into a tropical low, which will mean damaging wind gusts for inland locations.”
A number of highways have been closed — the Tablelands Highway, the Carpentaria, the Roper Highway and the Barkly Stock Route.
The ABC reports that Trevor — a weather system almost the size of New South Wales — is expected to pummel the Barkly region with 200 millimetres of rain from today. It said it is possible the system will still be a category one cyclone by the time it hits Brunette Downs, in the upper Barkly region, on Sunday. Roads in the area may be closed and become impassable and communities isolated as Trevor tracks inland.
