Darwin Races to Prepare as cyclone Fina Approaches
Darwin, NT – A fuel tanker is โurgently offloading its cargo as Tropical Cycloneโ Fina rapidly approaches theโ Northern Territory coast, threatening to disrupt supply chains and possibly โฃisolateโ communities. Together,โข cattle stations are scrambling to moveโข livestock to higher ground and secure shipments before potential โฃflooding and roadโ closures.
The impending cycloneโข is forcingโ a logistical rush to ensure essential supplies and livestock can be moved before conditions deteriorate. The Bureau of Meteorology’s latest track โmap indicates Finaโค is forecast to make landfall near Minjilang,then pass โbetween โขthe Tiwi Islands and Darwin. The timing is critical as twoโฃ cattle ships are due to โarrive in Darwinโฃ withinโข theโฃ next โseven to nine days,creating a narrowโ window for producers to deliver their stock.
Cattle producer Mr. Underwood, speaking to โABC rural while moving 6,000 head of cattle off Litchfield Station, โขexplainedโ the urgency. “We’ve โgot two cattle ships [due into Darwin] โค inโ about โคseven, eight or nine days’ time,” he said. “There’s a little window here to get these cattle out, or they might be behind water or broken roads for a couple of weeks, so we’re in โa bit of a hurry.”
So far, 1,000 cattle wereโข moved off the station โคlast night and another 3,200 were trucked today, โutilizing 13 triple road-trains before lunch andโ a โขfurther five this afternoon. Mr.Underwood acknowledged the increasedโ pressure on export yards, โขstating, “Obviously we’re going toโ put a little bit of pressureโค on the export yards, particularly if they end up getting โa direct hit. But I know the yards have all got their plans. We’re confident โthe cattle will be well lookedโ after and at leastโ we โคknow that we can โคload them on ships โคwhen we โฃneed them.”