I was living in the Upper Gascoyne when Alby danced past Carnarvon and I remember the various coastal stations calling in on the RFDS frequencies reporting its progress.
We tied off all our windmills in anticipation but it stayed offshore and no damage was done to us. It's a long time ago but I think De Grey got flooded and a few ended up sitting on the station roof waiting for the water to go down. We would have loved it to come inland because we had endured many years of drought and a cyclone brings good rain to the interior as it deteriorates into a depression.
A few years back the Lyons and Gascoyne Rivers both came down with a rush and Gascoyne Junction at their confluence was badly damaged...the unthinkable happened and the pub got washed away along with around 120 years of history inside. A lot of damage was done to some of the historic homesteads, too, especially Bidgemia which was originally constructed of mud brick.
It's a harsh land up there but it stays in your heart forever.
Kaz