WA Premier Warns Against “Stupid” Behaviour After Reports Of Cyclone Selfies

Folks along Western Australia’s Pilbara coast have been advised to please, please, please use their brains during the onslaught of Cyclone Veronica, which brought winds reaching 165km/h to the region last night.

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Speaking to The Australian, WA Premier Mark McGowan urged residents in affected areas to avoid doing anything “stupid” during the gusty mayhem, which has been downgraded to a (still pretty gnarly!) Category 2 storm system.

“Don’t risk your own life, don’t risk the lives of your children, don’t risk the life of others,” McGowan said, after those in Karratha, Port Hedland, and Roeburne were advised to hunker down and literally wait for it to all blow over.

The Oz states McGowan’s statement came after reports of people taking to the streets to capture selfies in the wind. PEDESTRIAN.TV has observed several such selfies. Our official editorial stance: being outside during big meteorological events is exciting, but there are more fun things to do than get clobbered by falling branches.

Cyclone Veronica is moving quite slowly in a westward direction, scraping the top north-west portion of WA as it does so. It has absolutely dumped rain in the region, prompting flood warnings in several Pilbara coastal communities.

The Bureau Of Meteorology states Cyclone Veronica is expected to reduce in intensity throughout the day, but that’s likely still not a good enough reason to fake being a stormchaser for the Instagram clout. Stay safe out there.

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