Tropical Cyclone Narelle was upgraded on Thursday to a severe category four system off the Western Australian northwest coast and could grow more powerful.
The storm is on track to cross the coast late on Friday between Carnarvon and Kalbarri as a degraded category three system, but it could still pack a punch, with wind gusts up to 224km/h possible.
It was expected to skid past Exmouth overnight and affect Coral Bay and Denham before crossing the coast in the Shark Bay area.
Kalbarri State Emergency Service deputy Steve Duncan said the town was as prepared as it could be for Narelle's arrival in the early hours of Saturday.
"The majority of the town was here for (Cyclone Seroja in 2021)," he said.
"That's one benefit of past events, people are more aware."
Seroja flattened the coastal town of about 1500 people after it crossed the coast as a category three system.
"People are still quite jumpy," Mr Duncan said.
"It was quite a traumatic event for the town, so people are very wary on any potential cyclone Impact in the area, which is quite understandable."
Agricultural town Carnarvon could take a direct hit from Narelle as a category four system on Friday.
Shire president Eddie Smith said he was trying to stay positive so he could deal with whatever hit the town.
"We're waiting for the inevitable," he said.
"I'm hoping that we see it downgraded from the probable three or four to two, that would be really good."
Banana growers' co-op boss Doriana Mangili said farmers were still recovering after being lashed by Tropical Cyclone Mitchell six weeks ago.
"In the last one, winds were just over 100km/h, but this one's looking to go as high as 220km/h, so that's a very different scenario," she said.
"That's the sort of wind that can rip a roof off a house; there'll definitely be debris flying around.
"You can see power poles snap, and then the recovery process becomes much greater, because you can't do anything until power is restored."
The town of about 6000 people was devastated by Tropical Cyclone Olwyn in 2015, when power and water were lost for more than a week, and roads into the area were cut.
"It's looking more and more the same sort of severity as Olwyn," Ms Mangili said.
"That's the one we lost 100 per cent of our (agricultural) production.
"We've seen this before."
Farmers have been racing to harvest as much fruit as possible and send it to Perth, 900km south, before roads in the region were closed.
"I joked yesterday that last week my only problems were the cost of fuel, fertiliser, and packaging ... now we're potentially getting no income for 18 months," Ms Mangili said.
"It's devastating."
Narelle has reformed after leaving a trail of destruction across parts of Queensland and the Northern Territory.
The system is set to move southeast after crossing the coast and pass as a tropical low east of Perth on Saturday, bringing showers and thunderstorms.
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