Tropical Cyclone Fina winds swipe at Darwin with flash flooding warnings in place

ABC NEWS (Australia)

Tropical Cyclone Fina is set to pass just north of Darwin in the coming hours. Warnings for hurricane force winds and flash flooding are in place with those in the warning zone.  The weather bureau has recorded sustained winds near the centre of 140 kilometres per hour with gusts to 195 kilometres per hour.

Transcript

00:00Right on time, severe tropical cyclone Fina rolls in, bearing down on the Tiwi Islands.

00:10This is the worst storm that I've ever been in. Hopefully we're going to the house we hold up.

00:15In Wurumiunga on Bathurst Island, 90 people sheltering inside a school.

00:21Everyone's feeling calm, really calm, you know, being together in the hall, sitting down with families, but still with a smiley face.

00:29We're all safe, we know the drills, what time and what time is the strong wind going to hit us, so we all prepare for that.

00:40The rain first hit Darwin in the early hours of the morning, and the wind picked up soon after as residents woke up.

00:47By half past seven, the cyclone had intensified into a Category 3 system as it moved closer towards the NT capital.

00:54Mid-morning on the Nycliffe foreshore, people taking advantage of the cool conditions.

01:00We just went jetty jumping. Yeah, it was pretty good.

01:03The fishing before the cyclone, absolutely amazing. Amazing. Ten-killer goalies, deweys, everything on the bite.

01:11Kite surfers also revelling in the conditions. Some trees going down early. This roof just hanging on.

01:20Along Darwin's deserted party strip, empty pubs which had originally planned to stay open.

01:27A scheduled media event from authorities moved online, due to the deteriorating conditions.

01:34Tropical cyclone Fino is forecast to have sustained winds of 130 kilometres an hour, with possible wind gusts up to 185 kilometres an hour.

01:44The message is clear. Don't panic. Enact your plans. We've got this. We are prepared. And we're ready. And we're in this together.

01:53People without a home to go to, taking cover at a CBD car park.

01:57I have to find a shelter. So they told us to come down here, the car park, where it's safe.

02:04I now have the radio and any updates I'll provide people and go around and make sure people at least are aware of what's happening.

02:10By mid-afternoon, Power was down in several suburbs. After Cyclone Marcus, for some, it was over a week before Power came back on.

02:19Back on.

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