Hurricane Season 2009 #2:

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Red alert as cyclone heads for mainland

Cyclone Laurence has altered direction and is headed directly for the West Australian mainland.

The category 5 system was tracking parallel to the coast but has now angled southwards and is predicted to move onshore by nightfall, about 100 kilometres north-west of Derby.

The small but very intense cyclone crossed over the pearling community of Kuri Bay early this morning and was threatening the iron ore operations of Cockatoo and Koolan islands where staff have relocated to a cyclone shelter.

The Fire and Emergency Service Authority's Gordon Tiddums says Kuri Bay was relatively unscathed.

"Really there's no damage, just trees down. They've had some strong gusts of wind but no buildings destroyed," he said.

The Bureau of Meteorology is warning residents along the West Kimberley coast to prepare for very destructive winds and heavy rains tonight.

It says the communities of Koolan Island and Cockatoo Island are on red alert and need to go to shelter immediately.

A yellow alert applies for Cape Leveque, One Arm Point, Djarindjin, Lombadina and Derby.

Cyclone Laurence has already brought heavy rains and destructive winds to communities and cattle stations across the north Kimberley.

Linda Pearson from Theda Station says they have had 175 millimetres of rain in the past 24 hours and she expects to be stranded for several days.

"We've just had a very heavy storm. You can't go anywhere, literally, because the water on the roads is too deep," she said.

"We've got water above our lawns, our septic tanks are flooding, our roads are now rivers and our driveway is a river."

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Emergency crews in Western Australia are preparing to assess the damage from Tropical Cyclone Laurence at first light.

Laurence has been downgraded to a category 3 system after leaving a trail of damage across Western Australia's north.

The cyclone was a category 5 when it crossed the Pilbara coast at 80 Mile Beach yesterday afternoon, causing significant damage to some buildings.

There have been no reports of injuries, but emergency services say they have not been able to contact some people due to disruptions to phone services.

The Fire and Emergency Services Authority's (FESA) Les Hayter says a helicopter will this morning conduct an aerial assessment of the coastline.

"At the moment we're having trouble contacting people in Wallal and Mandora and we just want to make sure that the reports we are currently getting that there is no loss of life or damage to humans is correct." he said.

"There is obviously some fairly substantial damage at 80 Mile caravan park which we will be able to see at first light with this crew coming through with the helicopter."

At 3:30 am (AWST) Cyclone Laurence was about 100 kilometres south-south-east of Wallal moving at 11 kilometres per hour.

Although Laurence is expected to gradually weaken today, very destructive winds are still possible this morning as the cyclone moves further inland.

FESA says people in or near communities from Sandfire to Pardoo and inland to Yarrie and Marble Bar remain on red alert.

But people in communities between De Grey, Port Hedland and Bidyadanga have been advised that wind dangers have passed.

Emergency crews will be unable to respond to requests for help until red alerts are lifted.