Video: watson/Hanna Dedial
The images seem surreal: a tropical cyclone turns the sky blood red, devastates a unique reef – and causes central gas exports to falter.
March 30, 2026, 10:34 amMarch 30, 2026, 10:58 am
Anna-Lena Janzen / t-online
When Cyclone Narelle reached the west coast of Australia on Friday, it had already traveled an extraordinary path: it was the first tropical cyclone in more than 20 years to make landfall in three states and territories. The massive storm first hit the far north of Queensland as a Category 4 cyclone, before reaching the Northern Territory as a Category 3 cyclone last Saturday and continuing westward to the Indian Ocean. The system covered more than 5,500 kilometers.
The effects of the storm were partly devastating. While there were reports of covered roofs and power outages in Queensland and warnings of severe flooding in the Northern Territory, particularly frightening images came from Western Australia. Even days after the storm, remote places there are sealed off from the outside world.
Sky is colored blood red
Even before we made landfall, the force of the storm was evident in the sky – in Denham, a small coastal town in the Shark Bay region, the air turned deep red on Friday. Photographs from the location showed a uniformly reddish glowing sky that bathed the entire landscape in a diffuse, almost unreal blood-red light.
Video: watson/Hanna Dedial
The videos were published by Shark Bay Caravan Park, among others. The operator wrote about a video on Facebook: “No filter. That’s the way it is. You can feel the dust in your eyes and mouth.” And further: “Incredibly scary outside”.
The Australian media described the scenes as “apocalyptic”. According to the US weather service AccuWeather, it is a well-known but rare phenomenon: the discoloration formed when dust filled the air in front of the tropical cyclone. Australia’s soils are particularly rich in iron. As a result of weathering, the material oxidizes – it “rusts”, so to speak – and breaks down into fine, reddish dust. If this dust is stirred up in large quantities, as in the run-up to a cyclone, it spreads into the atmosphere and influences sunlight. The fine particles primarily scatter the longer, red wavelengths of light.
Beaches become “cemeteries”
But the red air was only the harbinger of what was to follow. The extent of the cyclone’s damage became clear on the coast of Western Australia after the weekend. In the remote small town of Exmouth, on Ningaloo Reef, numerous households remain without power even days after the storm. Emergency services worked to gradually restore supplies. The town of around 3,000 inhabitants, whose inhabitants are predominantly from… tourism live and whose population quadruples during the peak season between April and October, is cut off from the outside world, according to the ABC report: The Airport is devastated and the only access road is closed.
The storm also washed entire parts of the reef ashore, the ABC broadcaster reported. Coastal areas otherwise known for their exceptional biodiversity now showed a picture of devastation.
The Ningaloo Reef is a UNESCO World Heritage Site and is one of the most important coral reefs in the world. Unlike the Great Barrier Reef, it runs directly along the coast and is home to thousands of species – including whale sharks, sea turtles and numerous coral species. For the region it is both an ecological backbone and an economic basis, especially for tourism.
Wildlife volunteer Brinkley Davies described the situation vividly. A walk on the beach is like “a veritable cemetery of birds, sea snakes, fish and several dead dolphins.” She received more than 100 emergency calls while trying to care for injured animals.
From a scientific perspective, the timing was also considered particularly critical. Marine biologist Zoe Richards spoke of a “worst case scenario for marine life”. The reef has only just recovered from the worst coral bleaching in its history. Now there is a risk of another setback: There is a “very big risk” that the strong waves would have destroyed “all the little baby corals” that had settled just a few weeks ago after the spawning phase.
Cyclone causes outages at large LNG plants
The cyclone also has consequences for the energy supply. According to fossil energy companies Chevron and Woodside, there were outages at three major liquefied natural gas (LNG) plants in Western Australia.
On Saturday, Chevron said it was working to restore production at its Gorgon and Wheatstone plants following outages caused by the cyclone. With an annual capacity of around 15.6 million tonnes, Gorgon is Australia’s largest LNG export facility; Wheatstone comes in at around 8.9 million tonnes. According to Chevron, the two plants together supply more than five percent of the liquefied natural gas (LNG) traded worldwide.
According to Chevron, the Gorgon plant – the larger of the two – continues to operate at reduced capacity. It was initially unclear to what extent deliveries could be affected. “We will resume full production at both sites as soon as it is safe to do so,” Chevron said.
On Sunday, the Australian company Woodside said the LNG plant in Karratha in northern Western Australia was affected by a “production interruption” due to the approaching cyclone. Woodside’s facility serves the giant North West Shelf gas project, described by the company as one of the largest LNG plants in the world. They have begun to move staff back to offshore facilities; Inspections should now decide on the process and timing of the restart. Production will only resume “as soon as it is safe.”
The current disruptions hit an already tense market situation: global supplies have already been disrupted by the conflict that has been going on for weeks Iran charged. In addition, has Australia has gained further importance as an exporter since Qatar had to limit its production as a result of damage caused by Iranian attacks.
Australia is one of the world’s most important LNG exporters and is an essential supplier for import-dependent Japan. According to the Asia Natural Gas and Energy Association, the East Asian country sources around 40 percent of its LNG imports from Australia.
Climate crisis increases weather phenomena
According to climate researchers, the unusual strength and early timing of Cyclone Narelle are not a coincidence, but rather the result of global warming. As the storm moved across the Coral Sea, it encountered conditions that alarmed experts: an ocean that has heated up massively in recent months and is acting as a huge energy store.
For a cyclone to form, water temperatures of at least 26.5 degrees are necessary – the sea has been literally charged in the past few months due to the heat it has absorbed. “The Coral Sea has just recorded its hottest December, hottest February, hottest summer, hottest calendar year and even hottest financial year,” climate researcher Andrew Watkins from Monash University told the Guardian.
According to researchers, the record values are not considered an isolated weather phenomenon. Rather, the atmosphere has heated up significantly since pre-industrial times due to human influence. Since the world’s oceans absorb more than 90 percent of the additional heat, they are increasingly becoming breeding grounds for extreme weather. Scientists also cite the continued use of fossil fuels as a central cause.
Sources used: