Western Australia’s Ports Reopen After Cyclone Zelia Hits Pilbara Region

SYDNEY, Feb 15 (Reuters) – Western Australia’s ports of Dampier and Varanus Island reopened, the ports’ operator said, after Tropical Cyclone Zelia hit the state’s Pilbara iron ore region on Friday.

Pilbara Ports said on its website late on Friday that the ports, a gathering and processing hub for oil and gas, reopened after being shut on Thursday evening as Zelia, the most severe storm to hit the Pilbara coast since Cyclone Ilsa in April 2023, approached.

“Pilbara Ports has undertaken inspections of navigation aids, channels, and berths and has confirmed safe operations can resume,” the operator said in the alert.

Zelia brought heavy rain and wind gusts up to 290 kph (180 mph) when it made landfall. Its approach prompted the closure of the world’s largest iron ore hub, Port Hedland, on Wednesday. The region’s Cape Lambert port also shut.

Pilbara Ports said on Saturday it would issue an alert when Port Hedland reopened, after Zelia crossed the coast near the port around noon (0400 GMT) on Friday as a category five cyclone, the highest danger rating.

It moved south and weakened to a category four, sparing the town’s population center from its most destructive winds.

The nation’s weather forecaster said on Saturday that Zelia, now downgraded to a tropical low, was “dissipating over the inland Pilbara.”

“Ex-Tropical Cyclone Zelia is below cyclone intensity and is continuing to weaken as it moves slowly south and further inland through the eastern Pilbara,” the forecaster said on its website.

Even so, senior forecaster meteorologist Angus Hines told the Australian Broadcasting Corp that some Pilbara towns could become cut off as water levels rose due to heavy rain brought by the storm.

An emergency warning was in place on Saturday for residents between the remote Pilbara towns of Warralong to Marble Bar, about 160 km (100 miles) southeast of Port Hedland, Western Australia’s Department of Fire and Emergency Services said.

Port Hedland is used by BHP Group, Fortescue, and billionaire Gina Rinehart’s Hancock Prospecting, while the Dampier and Cape Lambert ports ship iron ore from Rio Tinto, which expected ship movements to resume on Saturday afternoon.

Fortescue said on Saturday it was assessing its operational sites, including roads, villages, and mines in the wake of the cyclone.

“Minimal damage has been reported,” a spokesperson said in a statement, after the company on Friday closed its Iron Bridge mining operations and canceled non-essential travel to Pilbara sites. “We are working to resume normal activities as quickly and safely as possible.”

BHP, which on Friday paused its Port Hedland operations for safety, said on Saturday the cyclone had not caused any major damage at its sites. “Our teams are now progressively returning to site, with recovery and ramp-up operations underway,” a spokesperson said in a statement.

(Reporting by Sam McKeith in Sydney; Editing by Stephen Coates and William Mallard)

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