Cyclone Olwyn hits Barrow Island, Gorgon workers not evacuated

Hundreds of workers at Western Australia’s Barrow Island where Chevron is building the $54 billion Gorgon LNG project have been stranded during Cyclone Olwyn after not being evacuated early enough.

According to local media reports, workers are sleeping on blow up mattresses in hallways because contract companies left it too late to evacuate.

There is no enough accommodation on the Island to cover that amount of people since only half of the accommodation is cyclone proof, Perth Now reports.

Barrow Island, off the Pilbara coast, is right in the storm’s path and has already copped a gust of 122km/h, as well as sustained 93km/h winds. The Island has received over 100mm of heavy rain since 4.30am local time, the report said.

Cyclone Olwyn has intensified to category 3 as it rapidly approaches the west Pilbara coast. Late Thursday evening or early Friday morning very destructive winds with gusts exceeding 165 kilometres per hour are expected to develop near the west Pilbara coast, most likely between Onslow and Exmouth, as the cyclone approaches the coast, according to Australia’s Bureau of meteorology.

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LNG World News Staff; Image: The Bureau of Meteorology of Australia