Thursday 25 / April / 2024
Canberra: A second cyclone within 48 hours has brought destructive winds and torrential rains to coastal regions of Australia.
Cyclone Veronica lingered about 95km (60 miles) off the nation's north-west coast today, officials said.
Despite no longer being expected to make landfall, the category two system is moving slowly and has prompted warnings for locals to remain indoors.
Cyclone Trevor, a category four, hit the Northern Territory last Saturday.
Heavy rains and large waves whipped up by Cyclone Veronica threaten to cause widespread flooding in Western Australia, according to authorities.
An area stretching from Karratha to Port Hedland was enduring gale-force winds of more than 125km/h, the Bureau of Meteorology said.
However, the bureau expects the cyclone will begin to weaken soon.
"Heavy rain will continue over areas of the central Pilbara," they added.
Similar conditions affected the Northern Territory last Saturday when Cyclone Trevor made landfall between the remote communities of Numbulwar and Borroloola.
In Western Australia, the strong winds snapped trees and caused minor power outages, but there were no immediate reports of injuries.
Many locals had reinforced their homes with sandbags and stocked up on food and water supplies, the BBC news reported.
