Olivia was expected to hit land overnight. During the earlier portion of that day (before
13:00), Olivia was north west of where I was (Karatha) and moving south. Therefore, there
was not much nervousness even though ABC radio reported huge lineups at the food stores
which closed at 12:00 (noon) except for the Coles which closed at 13:00 and there were NO
lineups at that time, everyone was not buying "canned goods and emergency items" but rather
coke, chips and other junk foods ! (I was surprised to see that).
However, later in the afternoon, it was reported that Olivia had switched direction and was
heading south-east and could possibly hit Karatha head on.
>
> Mardie reported a maximum gust of 139 kt as Olivia passed over (exact time
> unknown). A nearby island reported a minimum pressure of 927 mb (exact time
> unknown). Press reports indicate structural damage occurred to homes and
> businesses in the landfall area. There are no reports of casualties or
> monetary damage figures at this time.
I have a photocopy of a satellite picture kindly sent to me by a Darwin Meteorologist
(Sam Cleland: Thank you very much !).
The text on it states: GMS 12Z NIIR 96 04 10 80 (is this enough to be able to find that
picture on the net ?)
This corresponds to 20:00 local time, and the southern tip of the seems to be on the land.
We lost electrical power at about 22:00 (nice fireworks as wires continued to fly in the
air, generating sparks that flew away !) I recall noticing wind direction change sometime
between 20:00 and 22:00. Mardie, where the eye hit ground is about 100km from where I was
(Karatha). Power was restored at about 05:00 on the 11th. Winds had already dies down
considerably by then. Interesting that there were strong winds days prior to hitting, but
hours after passing through, winds had already gone down to "normal". (yeah ! about the
only time I had a tail wind in my trip:-)
Reports in the morning (06:00 am, some 14 hours before landfall) indicated the following:
-Pressure at centre was 935 hecto pascals (I assume it is the same as mb ?)
-Winds of 250km/h.
-Centre was located about 350km north of coast.
-Travelling at about 15km/h.
This means that the storm must have accelerated quite a bit in order to make that distance
in 14 hours. Does approach to land usually cause this ?
At Mardie, recorded winds of 257km/h. (sorry, I do not know how to convert to knots)
The above info is base on my own experience and radio reports from local stations.
While the town of Karatha (and Dampier) suffered little damage, their
buildings are built to widthstand these winds.
There was considerable damage to a roadhouse at Fortescue (just south of
Mardie. I was at Fortescue about 30 hours prior to its "destruction" (It
lost its roof). They had not bothered to call to get the latest
information and told me not to worry about it prior to my setting off on
my pushbike the day before. Needless to say, I didn't feel sorry for
them when I heard the news !
But the mining town of Pannawonica further inland was devastated and
this is where the media and politicians attention were focused (promises
to help rebuild etc).
I beleive that 2 days after landfall, Olivia was still causing trouble
and stirred up silthy sea bottom in South Australia (near Port Lincoln)
and caused about $60 million of damage to a fish farm because the fish
suffocated. So, even thought it was no longer a cyclone, it was still
causing trouble.