Tropical Cyclone Zelia: Supply routes cut, communities isolated as flood waters peak

For the third time this year, Australia’s biggest shire has been hit by flooding.

And it’s only February.

East Pilbara Shire in Western Australia’s northwest has been one of the worst hit in the aftermath of Tropical Cyclone Zelia’s coastal crossing with roads cut and communities isolated.

A dirt road network of more than 3000km features in the local government area that is larger than Victoria and Tasmania combined.

Eight graders are on standby at all times to service its many unsealed roads, but it remains to be seen when they will be sparked into action.

Many roads remain inundated, with communities like Marble Bar and Nullagine told they could be cut off for some time.

“Flooding is widespread but this is not uncommon for us. This is the third time this year we’ve had roads cut off,” East Pilbara Shire president Anthony Middleton told AAP.

Floodwaters trigged by Zelia’s coastal crossing near Port Hedland on Friday appear to have peaked in the region.

But the full extent of the damage caused won’t be known until water levels recede, which could take some time particularly in East Pilbara’s vast surrounds.

Getting supplies to isolated communities is a priority.

When the latest round of flooding clears, Cr Middleton hopes upgrading roads in his region starts taking precedence.

“Just trying to get supplies to communities in our area, that’s the challenge we face every time we have unprecedented rain,” he said.

“Normally in a week to 10 days we sort of know where we are sitting with the water receding, then it’s recovery and making sure our dirt roads are accessible for our communities.

“This is another example of our roads requiring upgrades.”

Freight routes across the remote Pilbara region are set to be cut for days, sparking panic buying with supermarket shelves stripped bare at Broome.

However, authorities said contingencies were in place to have trucks arrive via South Australia and the Northern Territory to help restock stores.

Former category five system Zelia was quickly downgraded to a tropical low once it crossed the coast.

Remnants of Zelia have moved from the Pilbara down to WA’s southern interior, leading to cloudy skies, patchy showers and thunderstorms on Tuesday.

“We have well and truly returned to dry and sunny weather in the northwest after last week’s rainfall,” the Bureau of Meteorology’s Angus Hines said.

“In some ways we can just breathe a little sigh of relief because the tropical cyclones, the major flooding from the last couple of weeks ... (are) not going to be so prevalent this week at all.”