Tropical Cyclone Rusty slammed into the Western Australian coast near the tiny community of Pardoo on Wednesday, bringing flooding rain and strong winds.
The system has been downgraded to a category three and is now tracking inland, but is still packing winds of more than 165km/h at its core and is tipped to dump up to 600 millimetres of rain over 24 hours on the Pilbara.
Rusty crossed the coast near Pardoo, where there is a cattle station and a roadhouse, on Wednesday afternoon (local time). Pardoo is about 120km north-east of Port Hedland, the ABC reports.
The Department of Fire and Emergency Services advised people to remain in the strongest part of their house and make sure they have food and water.
Mining companies in the state shut down operations ahead of the cyclone's landfall.
The companies will lose up to $A40 million a day, with mines and ports expected to be closed for several days.
