Reuters AlertNet Lite - Cyclone Isobel nears northwest Australia coast

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Cyclone Isobel nears northwest Australia coast

02 Jan 2007 09:21:00 GMT
Source: Reuters

SYDNEY, Jan 2 (Reuters) - Gales were expected to develop overnight as a cyclone, the first of the season, approached Australia's remote northwest coast, meteorologists said on Tuesday.

Tropical Cyclone Isobel was rated as a category one storm, the lowest in a five-point scale, with winds of up to 95 kmh (60 mph) near its centre.

Australia's Bureau of Meteorology said Isobel was about 600 km (370 miles) north of Port Hedland, about 1,350 km (840 km) north of the Western Australia state capital Perth. Mining giant BHP Billiton has port operations at Port Hedland.

The bureau said a cyclone warning was in place for coastal waters extending another 550 km (340 miles) north to Cape Leveque and inland to the Pilbara region.

The Pilbara region is home to more than 12,000 people and includes Woodside Petroleum's multi-billion-dollar North West Shelf liquefied natural gas project at Karratha.

BHP and fellow mining major Rio Tinto both have operations in the Pilbara, which has large deposits of iron ore.

The Bureau of Meteorology said no alerts had been issued for communities in the affected areas.

But it said that damaging winds and heavy rainfall leading to flooding could develop by Thursday, when the remnants of Cyclone Isobel were expected to combine with a deep trough currently forming over the south of the state.

Cyclone Glenda, a category four storm, forced oil and gas fields to shut down and thousands of west Australians to take shelter when it hit the region last March.

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Last updated:Tue Jan 2 13:00:10 2007