Australia braces for second cyclone in west

SYDNEY, Mar 11 (Reuters) A second cyclone heading towards Western Australia has weakened and is unlikely to cause as much damage as a category four storm which hit the area two days ago, Australia's Bureau of Meteorology said today.

Tropical Cyclone Jacob was downgraded to a category one storm that may cause some tree and boat damage, the weather bureau said.

''Gales with gusts to 100 kph may develop on the Pilbara coast between Onslow and Whim Creek tonight, possibly extending to other parts of the warning zone overnight,'' the bureau said on its Web site.

The weather bureau said Cyclone Jacob was unlikely to significantly intensify prior to hitting the coast and may continue to weaken. It was expected to hit land tomorrow.

Three people were killed and up to 20 injured on Friday when Cyclone George struck the coast of Western Australia near the remote iron ore exporting terminal at Port Hedland with 275 kph winds.

It disrupted mining and oil operations in the worst storm to hit the region since Cyclone Vance in 1999. Mining company BHP Billiton closed its iron ore port operations in Port Hedland, sent half its mining staff home and shut one of its key iron ore operations.

The cyclones have also forced the shutdown of almost half the country's oil production, with at least 180,600 barrels per day (bpd) of offshore production shut in. Australia produced about 418,000 barrels of oil per day in 2006, according to government figures.

Cyclones are a regular feature of the Australian summer in the tropical north and the season still has another month to run. The most deadly storm on record was Cyclone Tracy, which killed 65 people in the northern city of Darwin in 1974.

REUTERS SP BD1544