Cyclone Zelia as it happened: Severe Tropical Cyclone Zelia makes landfall near De Grey River mouth east of Port Hedland

Zelia will now take a general southerly track overland and weaken, the Bureau of Meteorology reports. Intense rainfall is expected near and to the east of the centre.

Very destructive gusts of up to 200 km/h are likely within 30 kilometres of the centre but Port Hedland lies outside this region. Gusts near the centre will reduce this afternoon and tonight.

Destructive gusts of up to 160 km/h are occurring in coastal and adjacent inland areas between Port Hedland and Pardoo, moving through inland areas near the track and possibly impacting Marble Bar for a period tonight.

Gales with damaging gusts to 120 km/h are occurring on the coast between Pardoo and Whim Creek, including Port Hedland but should ease tonight. Damaging gusts to 120 km/h should also extend to inland areas to Marble Bar later tonight and possibly to Nullagine and Munjina tomorrow morning.

Heavy to locally intense rainfall which may lead to flash flooding is occurring across coastal and adjacent inland areas between Wallal Downs and Whim Creek, extending inland to Marble Bar and Nullagine overnight.

Flood watches and warnings are also current. Check Bureau of Meteorology warnings for further details.

There is no longer a risk of a storm tide at Port Hedland. Tides to the east of Port Hedland to Wallal Downs are likely to rise above the normal high tide mark.

We’ll be back tomorrow with details of the aftermath, and if you’re in Port Hedland, please exercise all possible caution and keep up to date on www.emergency.wa.gov.au.

A short time later the Bureau’s general manager environmental prediction services Matthew Collopy said there was evidence that climate change was impacting cyclone intensity thanks to the warming of the atmosphere and oceans.

“The early indications are that there is not a big impact on the frequency, but there is a potential impact on intensity,” he said.

“So there is potentially a higher chance of seeing high category cyclones because of those high temperatures both the in the water as well as the atmosphere.“

Climate Analytics CEO and lead author of previous Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change reports Bill Hare said global warming was driving an increase in the number of the most intense tropical cyclones and increasing their intensity.

“They will become more intense, cover a larger area and spin up a lot faster,” he said.

“If human-induced warming continues because fossil fuels are not phased out, marine heat wave intensity, duration and extent will continue accelerating until much of the tropical Indian Ocean is in an almost permanent marine heatwave.

“This will only increase the frequency of these life-threatening extreme weather disasters.”

“This system is producing very heavy rainfall, with rainfall totals expected to be two to 300mm over the next three to four hours, with three day totals up to 500mm possible,” he said.

“We have already recorded totals over 300mm, and this heavy rainfall falling on already wet catchments is likely to result in Flash and riverine flooding.”

Flood Watch and warning areas extend from the Gascoyne and through the Pilbara regions, with flood warnings already current for the De Grey and Pilbara coastal rivers.

The system is expected to weaken and winds will ease as the system continues to move south through the interior towards Tom Price and Paraburdoo.

“This is a very dangerous system that will cause those significant impacts,” he said.

He urged those in the Pilbara to remain informed and heed the latest advice on both the tropical cyclone and flood warnings from BOM and emergency WA.

“This is a serious storm, and it’s one which is going to have a significant impact on the communities throughout the Pilbara.”

Cook said emergency response teams were stationed 720 kilometres south west in Carnarvon and they were ready to fly in to Port Hedland after Zelia passes through.

He said he had already had conversations with Prime Minister Anthony Albanese about deploying the defence force.

“We particularly rely on the ADF for heavy haulage, heavy lift equipment to make sure that we can get that into Port Hedland and other towns as needed. So those conversations have already taken place,” he said.