Western Australia assesses Cyclone Ilsa’s ‘path of destruction’

Emergency authorities in Western Australia were assessing damage on Saturday from a tropical cyclone that hit the state’s northwest, sparing heavily populated areas but affecting several remote communities.
Ilsa, downgraded to a severe weather system, made landfall in the sparsely populated Pilbara region of Western Australia early on Friday with an intensity rating of 5, the highest.
The storm is the second extreme weather event this year in the state’s northwest. “Once in a century” floods lashed the vast Kimberley region further north in January.
Western Australia Department of Fire and Emergency Services Assistant Commissioner Rick Curtis said crews were surveying damage in the “very large area” hit by Ilsa.