Cyclone John crossed the coast of Western Australia at some distance from the nearest small town called Karratha. It was Category 5 which is the highest classification, but was not sufficiently close to any population centre to risk human life or property.

Unless you've been to that part of Australia it is probably difficult to imagine just how large it is nor how beautiful and inhospitable (climatically) it can be. I am guessing but the State of Western Australia has a HUGE length of coastline, which must be 3,000 miles long.

Cyclones (aka hurricanes or typhoons elsewhere in the world0 typically occur with greatest ferocity in tropical waters with occasional strays into the sub-tropics. In the case of W.A. the distances between towns on the coast are immense - say half a day's drive and the largest centre would be well less than 10.000, once you cross the Tropic of Capricorn.

On the Eastern seaboard in Queensland (my State) the population density is much higher, but there is still a significant area of tropical wilderness where cyclones hit without major human effects. Since the destruction of Darwin in December 1974, followed a few months later by the flooding of Brisbane, our preparedness for cyclones is somewhat heightened, with much tougher building codes, better early warning systems, improved flood mitigation.

I used to work for the Bureau of Meteorology. Regards, John