Tropical cyclone forces closure of ports in Western Australia's Pilbara region

By Renju Jose and Alasdair Pal

SYDNEY (Reuters) -Western Australia's ports of Dampier and Varanus Island will be closed at 6 p.m. (1000 GMT) on Thursday due to Tropical Cyclone Zelia, the ports' operator said, with emergency services in the state warning of the potential for significant damage.

Zelia, which has been upgraded to the strongest possible Category 5 storm, is due to make landfall on Friday in the remote Pilbara region, home to major ports used for commodities exports, Australia's Bureau of Meteorology (BOM) said.

"The intensity of Tropical Cyclone Zelia means there is significant threat to lives and property and I urge people to follow the directions of emergency services in the Pilbara," Darren Klemm, head of Western Australia's Department of Fire and Emergency Services, told a news conference on Thursday.

The Port of Dampier, which mostly ships iron ore from Rio Tinto, and Varanus Island, a gathering and processing hub for oil and gas, have started clearing vessels, Pilbara Ports said in a statement.

The closures come after Pilbara Ports on Wednesday shut Port Hedland, the world's biggest export point for iron ore and used by BHP Group, Fortescue and billionaire Gina Rinehart's Hancock Prospecting.

Port Hedland is at particular risk from the cyclone because its buildings are older, Klemm said.

"If the track was to shift more to the east and we would see a significant impact on Port Hedland," he said.

Category 5 storms have a maximum wind speed of more than 280 kph (174mph) the BOM's Western Australia manager James Ashley told the news conference.

Storms of Zelia's magnitude are rare, with the last hitting in April 2023, he added.

(Reporting by Renju Jose and Alasdair Pal in Sydney; Editing by Jacqueline Wong and Kate Mayberry)