Luxury tourism resort Berkeley River Lodge suffers 'significant damage' in Ex-Tropical Cyclone Fina direct hit
Parts of the luxury Berkeley River Lodge were flattened by the cyclone. (Supplied)
In short:
Ex-Tropical Cyclone Fina hit the exclusive Berkeley River Lodge in Western Australia's north, causing a "total loss of infrastructure".
Two caretakers sheltering underground at the site are uninjured after the category three system crossed the coast on Monday night.
What's next?
The Department of Fire and Emergency Services will evacuate the pair as soon as it is safe.
A luxury wilderness resort only accessible by sea and private charter flights has been significantly damaged in a direct hit from Ex-Tropical Cyclone Fina, which made landfall in an extremely remote part of Western Australia.
However, two caretakers sheltering in an underground bunker escaped unscathed.
Ex-Tropical Cyclone Fina, which battered Darwin and the Northern Territory over the weekend, crossed the West Australian coast on Monday night as a category three system, before being downgraded to a tropical low on Tuesday afternoon.
It hit the sparse Kimberley coastline at the Berkeley River mouth, where the upmarket Berkeley River Lodge is situated.
Tropical cyclone Fina pictured on the BOM satellite on Tuesday morning after crossing the coast. (Supplied: BOM)
While the cyclone did not impact the East Kimberley towns of Kununurra or Wyndham, the remote tourism resort suffered significant damage.
Resort receives 'direct hit'
Promising "barefoot luxury" on its website, the Berkeley River Lodge is an adults-only resort located in one of the most remote parts of the state.
The Berkley River Lodge opened in 2012 and had almost completed a three-year renovation. Archive image (Facebook: Berkeley River Lodge)
Inaccessible by road, guests and crew can only access the retreat by plane and boat.
The extremely remote Berkeley River Lodge, viewed from the air, identified by its air strip. (Supplied: Google Earth)
Owner Chris Banson said the resort received a "direct hit" from the cyclone.
"Three of the 18 villas are destroyed, and the staff accommodation has extensive damage," he said.
Berkeley River Lodge in WA's remote far north suffered extensive damage in a near direct hit from the cyclone. (Supplied)
"Water and power services are no longer operating.
"Most importantly, our two on-site caretakers are safe."
Mr Banson said no visitors had been impacted as the tourism season closed in September.
The two on-site caretakers at the lodge are safe. (Supplied)
He said, despite the damage, he hoped the lodge would reopen in May next year.
"We are still assessing the full extent of the damage and the impact that this will have on the 2026 season," he said.
The lodge was undertaking a major renovation project. (Supplied)
Wild night for caretakers
Department of Fire and Emergency Services (DFES) acting Kimberley superintendent Todd Pender said the caretakers had taken refuge in an underground 40-foot shipping container at 2pm on Monday.
He said they made contact with emergency crews in Kununurra early on Tuesday.
DFES says the resort, owned by hotel chain Saltwater Properties, has suffered extensive damage in TC Fina. (Facebook: Berkeley River Lodge)
"They report they're OK," Mr Pender said.
"They are reporting, however, there's reasonably significant damage to the structures out there … they're talking about total loss of infrastructure at different levels.
"The main thing is that people are safe."
Mr Pender said the caretakers had access to food and water, but were without power, and it could take some time for authorities to evacuate them.
"The power station on site has been destroyed," he said.
"Their battery banks will run out at some point."
Todd Pender says there has been significant damage at the lodge. (ABC Kimberley: Dunja Karagic )
He said emergency services were waiting for strong winds to ease before it was deemed safe enough to fly to the site.
"Once the winds have died enough, working with the aviation company, we'll get across there and check their welfare," Mr Pender said.
"There's every likelihood we are going to bring them out, and we'll find them some accommodation over in Kununurra."
Category 2 TC Fina sat over the Kimberley's north east coast on Tuesday morning. (Supplied: Bureau of Meteorology)
Mr Pender said a team of State Emergency Services volunteers would also travel to the area.
Tropical Cyclone Fina is the second cyclone to hit Berkeley River Lodge in the past eight years.
The resort suffered minor damage after Tropical Cyclone Blanche made landfall about five to 10 kilometres away as a category two system in March 2017.
Tracking inland
The Bureau of Meteorology downgraded the system to a tropical low on Tuesday afternoon.
The weather bureau said Ex-Tropical Cyclone Fina, located about 115 kilometres north west of Wyndham at around 3.30pm, would continue to track further inland at six km/h before it dissipates on Wednesday.
Mr Pender said DFES would continue to monitor the system's movements, as the tropical low would still bring "significant winds".
A severe weather warning is still in place for areas between Kalumburu and Wyndham, with heavy rain and possible flash flooding forecasted.
"It'll continue to drop significant amounts of rain, anywhere in the vicinity of 50 to100 millimetres as it makes its passage south," Mr Pender said.