Cyclone Jacob heads for Pilbara

TOPICAL Cyclone Jacob has done an about face on its trek towards Christmas Island and is now advancing towards the storm battered West Australian coast.

Category two Jacob could cross the Pilbara coast on Sunday or Monday in the same region that was battered overnight when category four Cyclone George slammed into the state, causing at least two deaths and many injuries. Jacob was on a path for Christmas Island, near Indonesia, yesterday before it turned towards the Australian mainland. Weather bureau forecaster Tony Wedd said today the erratic cyclone could reach the Pilbara coast on Sunday night if it continued its current path. “It's not expected to affect WA in the next 48 hours,” Mr Wedd said. Cyclone George was still causing widespread flooding in the Pilbara as it headed for the mining town of Newman tonight, he said. “That's the next population centre in its path, I expect they are well and truly battened down by now.” The tropical cyclone was still a category three storm despite travelling over land for about 12 hours. Mr Wedd said the cyclone was taking a long time to weaken because it was travelling over relatively flat land and had been such a powerful storm when it crossed the coast. George was 170km north-northwest of Newman and 145km east-northeast of Tom Price just after midday (WDT) it was moving southwest at 13km/h.

http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/story/0,20867,21352469-29277,00.html