Australian authorities have issued a red alert warning as the tropical cyclone Kelvin has hammered the Western coast with deadly winds of up to 150 kilometres per hour on Sunday morning.
In a warning issued on Sunday, the Department of Fire and Emergency Services told residents of northern WA that they were ‘in danger and need to act immediately.’
“There is a possible threat to lives and homes as a cyclone is approaching the area,” it said.
Residents of the Pilbara and Kimberley regions were told to remain in the safest parts of their house, away from windows, or stay in evacuation centres, reports Xinhua news agency.
Further south, a yellow alert was put in place warning of winds up to 150 kph until mid-afternoon on Sunday.
Heavy rainfall was also expected to come with the storm with the Bureau of Meteorology (BOM) warning that there was a high chance of flooding.
"I think we've already seen one of the strongest impacts of this system that Tropical Cyclone Kelvin will have -- is the rainfall we've seen in Broome," BOM senior forecaster Andrew Burton told the Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC) on Sunday.
"We've had 370.6 millimetres up to 9:00 am (Saturday) and that rainfall is continuing, so they look like they're on track to get to their wettest year ever."
The deluge has forced the closure of some roads with more to follow, including major arterial roads and highways which are the only way to access some towns by car.
