Cyclone, bushfires threaten WA

The Fire and Emergency Services Authority had urged tourists to leave the Gascoyne region because flooding, linked to the approaching Cyclone Iggy, could cut off the highway to Perth. But now bushfires have forced the closure of the highway, south of Carnarvon. Department of Environment and Conservation spokesman Anthony Desmond says there was a window of opportunity earlier today when families, returning to Perth for the new school year, could have made it through. The Bureau of Meteorology was expected to upgrade Cyclone Iggy to a category three system overnight.