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Thousands left in the dark as damaging winds, flash floods and a second major storm batter two states
Namita SinghSunday 23 November 2025 08:54 GMTComments
CloseTC Fina brings damaging winds to Northern Territory in Australia
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Tropical Cyclone Fina has left swathes of northern Australia without electricity after tearing past Darwin with destructive winds, while a separate violent storm system smashed the South Australian town of Port Pirie.
Fina, which intensified into a category-three cyclone as it crossed the Northern Territory’s Top End late on Saturday, brought wind gusts of around 205kmph as it swept past the capital, according to the Bureau of Meteorology.
The storm later moved over open water in the Timor Sea, but forecasters expect it to remain a severe system as it tracks west towards Western Australia.
Chief minister Lia Finocchiaro said roughly 19,000 customers lost power in Darwin – a city of 140,000 people and a major northern garrison for Australia’s armed forces – after the cyclone caused widespread damage to power lines, homes and local roads.
“This cyclone saw a territory that was united and prepared for what was to come,” Ms Finocchiaro said.
Emergency crews have urged residents to stay away from fallen lines while damage assessments continue. Darwin International Airport, which shut on Saturday as a precaution, said it was “working to re-establish operations as soon as it is safe to do so”.
For many in Darwin, Fina revived memories of Cyclone Tracy, the catastrophic 1974 storm that destroyed most of the city on Christmas Day and killed 66 people – one of the worst natural disasters in Australia’s modern history.
Fina is the strongest cyclone to affect Darwin since Cyclone Tracy, according to local broadcaster ABC, and stronger than Cyclone Marcus, a category-two system that struck the city in 2018.
Laurent Marsch, a New Zealander living in Darwin, told RNZ he had endured a “very, very stormy night” and had seen significant damage near the Royal Darwin Hospital in the northern suburb of Tiwi.
“This is the first cyclone we've had in six years,” he said. “This one started at category two and then intensified to a category three overnight.”
He added that the system was expected to reach category four strength over the sea, though its impact on land is now less certain.
Authorities in Western Australia have issued warnings for communities from Wadeye in the Northern Territory to remote settlements along the Kimberley coast, including Kalumburu and Troughton Island.
The Department of Fire and Emergency Services said residents in isolated areas should prepare for hazardous conditions even if gale-force winds do not reach their towns.
“The very destructive core of the cyclone is now located well off the northwest Top End coast,” an advisory said.
Fina is expected to weaken from Monday as it nears the Kimberley region, although emergency services warn that conditions can change rapidly.
While the north battled Fina, a sudden and severe thunderstorm struck the South Australian town of Port Pirie late on Saturday, bringing hail, violent winds and extensive power failures.
The State Emergency Service (SES) said it received 170 calls for assistance within half a day after wind gusts of up to 119kmph toppled trees and ripped apart roofs. Kirsty Phelps, the SES acting chief officer, said 165 volunteers had been deployed following “about 350 call-outs”, reported ABC News.
South Australia’s premier, Peter Malinauskas, said the storm cell was “sudden” and “not anticipated by the Bureau of Meteorology”.
“This was a severe storm, it is a demonstration that mother nature can be very unpredictable,” Mr Malinauskas said.
SA Power Networks, the state electricity provider, reported that around 4,900 households were cut off at the peak of the outages.
Cecilia Schutz, the company’s external affairs manager, said roughly 50 power lines were brought down and more than a dozen poles were “either pushed over or completely brought out of the ground”.
Seventy-two repair crews and contractors are working to restore service, with most homes expected to be reconnected by Sunday night.
Port Pirie resident Angela Lewis said her ceiling collapsed shortly after she entered a flooded back room.
“Luckily, I took a step back to get a long shot, and the ceiling collapsed, so it just missed me. It missed me by about a foot,” she told ABC News. She described hail reaching her husband’s ankles and water pouring in through light fittings.
The storm lasted “10, 15 minutes”, she said, but destroyed large sections of her home.
Mayor Leon Stephens asked residents to remain indoors while emergency teams clear roads. “There are lots of power lines and poles that are bent,” Mr Stephens said.
Jenny Horvat, a meteorologist at the Bureau of Meteorology, said thunderstorms rolled across South Australia from west to east throughout Saturday, with the Adelaide metropolitan area receiving 20–40mm of rain overnight.
“It is spring – we do expect to see these dynamic troughs and lows moving across the state at this time of year,” Ms Horvat said.
In March, ex-Tropical Cyclone Alfred caused similar damage in neighbouring Queensland, cutting power to hundreds of thousands of people.
No injuries have so far been reported in either storm.
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