Port Hedland's deputy mayor says the town is among the most prepared in the world for a category five cyclone, but there are fears for houses that haven't been well maintained.

Port Hedland has resumed iron ore shipments after Tropical Cyclone Zelia battered WA's Pilbara. The port contributes more than $100 billion, or about four per cent, to the national economy each year.

Port Hedland, reopened after being shut on Wednesday due to the approach of Zelia, the most severe storm to hit the coast since Cyclone Ilsa in April 2023, Pilbara Ports said on its website.

SYDNEY (Reuters) -Western Australia's ports of Dampier and Varanus Island reopened, the ports' operator said, after Tropical Cyclone Zelia hit the state's Pilbara iron ore region on Friday.

“Port Hedland is expected to avoid the very destructive core of the cyclone,” the Bureau of Meteorology reported as it announced that Zelia had made landfall.

The storm has forced ports in the region to halt operations. Port Hedland, one of the largest iron ore ports in the world, closed on Wednesday, according to Pilbara Ports.

Port Hedland, a town of 15,000 people, narrowly missed the cyclone’s core. Earlier, officials warned people to shelter in the strongest part of their house as it was “too late” to evacuate.

Tropical Cyclone Zelia made landfall on Australia’s west coast on Friday, lashing the world’s largest iron ore hub with heavy rain and wind gusts up to 180 miles an hour.

Western Australia's Port Hedland, the world's largest iron ore hub, reopened after Tropical Cyclone Zelia hit the state's ore-rich Pilbara region, the port's operator said late on Saturday.

Port Hedland's deputy mayor says the town is among the most prepared in the world for a category five cyclone, but there are fears for houses that haven't been well maintained.