Severe Tropical Cyclone Chris was one of the most powerful cyclones to strike

Western Australia Western Australia (WA) is the westernmost state of Australia. It is bounded by the Indian Ocean to the north and west, the Southern Ocean to the south, the Northern Territory to the north-east, and South Australia to the south-east. Western Aust ...

on record, packing winds gusting up to 290 km/h (180 mph).

Meteorological history

Severe Tropical Cyclone Chris was first identified by the

Australian Bureau of Meteorology The Bureau of Meteorology (BOM or BoM) is an executive agency of the Australian Government that is responsible for providing weather forecasts and meteorological services to Australia and neighbouring countries. It was established in 1906 unde ...

(BoM) on 1 February 2002 as a weak

area of low pressure In meteorology, a low-pressure area (LPA), low area or low is a region where the atmospheric pressure is lower than that of surrounding locations. It is the opposite of a high-pressure area. Low-pressure areas are commonly associated with inclem ...

over the

Timor Sea The Timor Sea (, , or ) is a relatively shallow sea in the Indian Ocean bounded to the north by the island of Timor with Timor-Leste to the north, Indonesia to the northwest, Arafura Sea to the east, and to the south by Australia. The Sunda Tr ...

. Over the following day, the system tracked towards the southwest, eventually reaching a point roughly 340 km (210 mi) northwest of

Broome, Western Australia Broome, also known as Rubibi by the Yawuru, Yawuru people, is a coastal Pearl hunting, pearling and tourist town in the Kimberley (Western Australia), Kimberley region of Western Australia, north of Perth. The town recorded a population of 14,6 ...

, at which time it was classified as a tropical low. Situated in a region of moderate

wind shear Wind shear (; also written windshear), sometimes referred to as wind gradient, is a difference in wind speed and/or direction over a relatively short distance in the atmosphere. Atmospheric wind shear is normally described as either vertical ...

and good upper-level

divergence In vector calculus, divergence is a vector operator that operates on a vector field, producing a scalar field giving the rate that the vector field alters the volume in an infinitesimal neighborhood of each point. (In 2D this "volume" refers to ...

, the system gradually intensified. The low initially tracked towards the southeast in response to a

monsoon A monsoon () is traditionally a seasonal reversing wind accompanied by corresponding changes in precipitation but is now used to describe seasonal changes in Atmosphere of Earth, atmospheric circulation and precipitation associated with annu ...

al flow; however, this later shifted towards the south-southwest as system intensified. On 2 February, the low intensified into a minimal tropical cyclone. Operationally, the system was not classified as a tropical cyclone until 3 February, at which time it was given the name Chris by the BoM. Although already considered to have obtained gale-force winds by the BoM, the

Joint Typhoon Warning Center The Joint Typhoon Warning Center (JTWC) is a joint United States Navy – United States Air Force command in Pearl Harbor, Hawaii. The JTWC is responsible for the issuing of tropical cyclone warnings in the North-West Pacific Ocean, South P ...

(JTWC) assessed the system to have become a tropical depression late on 2 February. Chris reached peak intensity with 1-minute sustained winds of as it approached the coast late on 5 February. The storm made landfall early on 6 February near peak intensity, between

Pardoo Station Pardoo Station is a pastoral lease, formerly a sheep station, and now a cattle station approximately east of Port Hedland and north of Marble Bar, in the Pilbara region of Western Australia. Description The property used to be about in s ...

and Wallal,

Preparations and impact

Off the coast of

Indonesia Indonesia, officially the Republic of Indonesia, is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania, between the Indian Ocean, Indian and Pacific Ocean, Pacific oceans. Comprising over List of islands of Indonesia, 17,000 islands, including Sumatra, ...

, two motorboats capsized amid turbulent waters. The twelve people on these boats were listed as missing. Naval vessels from Indonesia were deployed to search for the missing people on 7 February. Heavy rains throughout southern Indonesia triggered flooding and mudslides in numerous towns and villages. Some areas were inundated by up to of water as a result of the storm. Significant coastal damage was also reported from large swells. Ahead of the storm, residents throughout the

Pilbara The Pilbara () is a large, dry, sparsely populated regions of Western Australia, region in the north of Western Australia. It is known for its Indigenous Australians, Aboriginal people; wealth disparity; its ancient landscapes; the prevailing r ...

region were placed on high alert as the Category 5 cyclone neared landfall. By 5 February, towns from

Bidyadanga Bidyadanga, also known as La Grange, is the largest Aboriginal community in Western Australia, with a population of approximately 750 residents. It is located south of Broome and from the state capital Perth, in the Kimberley region. The tr ...

Port Hedland A port is a maritime law, maritime facility comprising one or more wharves or loading areas, where ships load and discharge Affreightment, cargo and passengers. Although usually situated on a sea coast or estuary, ports can also be found far inla ...

and inland to

Marble Bar Marble is a metamorphic rock consisting of carbonate minerals (most commonly calcite (CaCO3) or dolomite (CaMg(CO3)2) that have recrystallized under the influence of heat and pressure. It has a crystalline texture, and is typically not foliat ...

were placed on yellow alert. The city of Port Hedland (pop. 14,000) was one of the larger population centres in the path of Chris. Throughout the threatened region, workers were sent home early to be with their families and make final preparations for the storm. All businesses were closed and roads were likely to be shut down across the area. In

, Chris resulted in large losses of cattle herds. One farmer reported that roughly 20% of the 6,000 cattle he owned died during the storm. Losses from the cattle were estimated at A$1 million (US$929,000). In aboriginal communities along the coast, emergency assessment teams discovered that a 500,000 acre cattle farm was completely wiped out. In remote communities in the

region, heavy rains, exceeding in several locations, triggered flooding. Residents in the Warralong community were forced to evacuate their homes after the local creek flooded. However, as rescue crews attempted to reach those still in the town, it was found to be completely isolated by flood waters. At the town of Bonney Downs, along the

Nullagine River The Nullagine River is a river in the Pilbara region of Western Australia. The headwaters of the river rise south of Bonney Downs and then flow in a northerly direction. The river crosses the Marble Bar road at Nullagine and continues to flo ...

, of rain produced by the storm caused the river to burst its banks, inundating parts of

Nullagine, Western Australia Nullagine is an old goldrush town in Western Australia's Pilbara region. It is located on the Nullagine River 296 km south-east of Port Hedland and 1,364 km north-north-east of Perth on the old Great Northern Highway. The town origi ...

. Significant structural damage was reported in Pardoo where the town's makeshift shelter lost its roof and some of its walls; a shed was destroyed and several homes were damaged. Several buildings in the town were destroyed by the floods, including a preschool. Power lines throughout the area were downed. At the height of the storm, communications were lost with Marble Bar. Throughout the town, only one home sustained roof damage and several fences were knocked over. By 7 February, emergency crews were deployed to the region to assist the local Aboriginal community. In some areas, rain produced by Cyclone Chris was seen in a positive way as the region was experiencing a prolonged drought, with a few places not receiving any rain within the previous 12 months. As a result of its damage, the name Chris was

retired Retirement is the withdrawal from one's position or occupation or from one's active working life. A person may also semi-retire by reducing work hours or workload. Many people choose to retire when they are elderly or incapable of doing their j ...

subsequent to its usage; its name was replaced with Clancy.

Historical perspective

As Cyclone Chris neared the Western Australian coastline, national media noted the storm's extreme intensity and compared it to several of Australia's worst cyclones. It was noted that Chris was more intense than the country's costliest natural disaster,

Cyclone Tracy Severe Tropical Cyclone Tracy was a small but destructive tropical cyclone that devastated the city of Darwin, Northern Territory, Darwin, in the Northern Territory of Australia, in December 1974. The small but developing easterly storm was or ...

in 1974; almost as strong as the most intense to strike the region

Cyclone Vance Severe Tropical Cyclone Vance was a tropical cyclone that struck Western Australia during the active 1998–99 Australian region cyclone season, and was also one of six tropical cyclones to form off the coast of Australia during that season. Whe ...

1999 1999 was designated as the International Year of Older Persons. Events January * January 1 – The euro currency is established and the European Central Bank assumes its full powers. * January 3 – The Mars Polar Lander is launc ...

; and similar to that of Cyclone Annette in 1994 which killed thousands of cattle in Western Australia.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Chris (2002) 2001–02 Australian region cyclone season Tropical cyclones in Western Australia 2002 in Australia Retired Australian region cyclones Category 5 Australian region cyclones 2000s in Western Australia

Chris Chris is a short form of various names including Christopher, Christian, Christina, and Christine. Chris is also used as a name in its own right, however it is not as common. People with the given name * Chris Abani (born 1966), Nigerian autho ...

Meteorological history

Preparations and impact

Historical perspective

See also

References