Australian cyclone evacuations "almost certainly saved life": defence force

CANBERRA, March 25 (Xinhua) -- Mass evacuations of remote communities in Australia's Northern Territory before they were hit by a cyclone on Saturday have been credited with saving lives.

More than 2000 residents of the remote communities on the NT's east coast were flown to safety by the Australian Defence Force (ADF) in a matter of days and a state of emergency was declared as Tropical cyclone Trevor bore down on the region.

With the storm having passed and residents returning to their communities on Sunday, ADF Brigadier Matt Pearse told the Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC) that the evacuations "almost certainly saved lives."

"I think the thing that sticks in my mind here is firstly the leadership and coordination that's been achieved, real teamwork between everyone who's contributing and everyone's been willing to try and help out the best that they can," he said.

"And I think the other thing is the remarkable resilience of those people from the remote communities who have come into Darwin.

"Being able to proactively evacuate people from an area has been a real plus and has almost certainly saved lives."

Despite warnings that Trevor could be the most damaging cyclone to hit the NT since cyclone Tracy killed 71 people in 1974, Chief Minister Michael Gunner said in the past weekend that the storm passed without causing any major injuries or "significant damage."

"It was an incredible, and extraordinary effort from our police, emergency personal, defence and others," he said.