Coastal residents in Western Australia's Pilbara region are being urged to take precautions as Tropical Cyclone Sean intensifies into a Category Three system. Heavy rainfall and flash flooding are possible, with destructive wind gusts of up to 185 kilometres an hour expected for offshore islands. Reporter Charlie McLean has the latest from Karratha.
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00:00Well, we've just had to take cover at a local sporting centre here in Karratha.
00:06We've had another downpour of rain recently.
00:09Tropical cyclone Sean came through last night and really smashed this town, which is about
00:141,500 kilometres north of Perth, with rain.
00:18Wind gusts were more moderate in Karratha, but there has still been some damage.
00:23There's fallen trees around town that local clean-up services are removing today.
00:29We do believe there's been two flood rescues already, emergency services tell us, and there's
00:33been around 40 calls for assistance in relation to this tropical cyclone.
00:38We do also believe there are more than 1,000 homes, both here in Karratha and further south
00:44in Exmouth, which are without power.
00:47Exmouth is currently where the front of the storm has moved to.
00:51It's about five hours south of Karratha, and it's sitting about 180 kilometres off the
00:57coast of Exmouth.
00:58As you said, it's now intensified into a Category 3 system, which will bring more destructive winds.
01:04And how have locals reacted to the record-breaking downpour, Charlie?
01:11Yeah, so it's fair to say that people have been really enjoying the novelty of all this
01:14rain in Karratha.
01:16There's a joke around town that there must be a dome around Karratha because it just
01:19never seems to rain here.
01:21Well, that has well and truly been smashed in the last 24 hours.
01:25The Karratha Airport rain gauge recorded 277 millimetres of rain in the last 24 hours.
01:32The last time the city got anywhere close to that was almost 20 years ago, so it has
01:36broken its January record for annual rainfall totals.
01:41And yesterday, people were really enjoying it.
01:43There were people out with boogie boards, slipping and sliding around different puddles
01:47around town.
01:48In some of the hills just near me, a natural waterfall sprung up and people were swimming
01:54and enjoying that.
01:56Of course, emergency services are still asking people to take precautions if they are out
02:00and about today due to the dangers of floodwaters.
02:05But as we said, it's really now that attention has turned to Exmouth, which is one of the
02:12most popular tourist spots in Western Australia, which is where the brunt of those winds are
02:17going to be felt today.
02:18So there is still an emergency warning in place for residents around there, and they're
02:23being asked to stay inside and just take precautions as those gusts come in this morning and into
02:30the afternoon.
02:31Thank you for the update, Charlie.