CYCLONE CHARLOTTE BRINGS BACK MEMORIES OF SEROJA

Cyclone Seroja making landfall in Western Australia on 11 April

As tropical cyclone Charlotte moved off the WA coast last week, it brought back painful memories for Kalbarri woman Rebecca Bond.

In April 2021, Cyclone Seroja made landfall in Kalbarri. Much of the damage from Seroja has not been repaired, and locals fear another cyclone may be devastating.

Ms Bond told Ngaarda Media that Seroja was very difficult for her and her two children.

“We were homeless for 74 days,” she said. 

“We had a tent in our lounge room. We went to emergency accommodation for two weeks after that that the government provided, and then we stayed with a friend for three months after that, in her lounge room.”

When Charlotte was bearing down, traumatic memories resurfaced for Ms Bond and her children.

“We didn't realize how traumatic [Seroja] was until this other cyclone approached the coast of Western Australia,” she said.

“70% of all the buildings here in Kalbarri were affected in some way [by Seroja], maybe 20% of those have been repaired. There’s still a lot of places around that have just been sitting there with tarps on the roof.”

“The house we’re in at the moment was severely affected by the cyclone. I don’t think it would survive if another cyclone came through.”