The roof was torn off an evacuation centre with 40 people huddled inside as Cyclone Narelle made landfall in Western Australia, leaving a trail of destruction.

The cyclone crossed the coast as a category three near Coral Bay on Friday afternoon before heading for Carnarvon, where it kicked up a dust storm.

There was an apocalyptic vibe for several hours as the sky turned a deep red and thick dust blanketed some communities.

Shark Bay Caravan Park posted footage of an eerie blood sky, writing: “No filter. This is it. You can feel the dust in your eyes and mouth.”

Shire president Eddie Smith said Carnarvon had been blanketed by a pink dust storm for about two hours, and wind gusts topped 100kmh.

Cyclone Narelle kicked up a dust storm in Carnarvon as it cut a swathe across Western Australia. Photo: Shark Bay Caravan Park

Holiday town Exmouth, 1250 kilometres north of Perth, copped the full force of Narelle’s fury when the category four storm generated winds in excess of 250kmh.

Roofs were torn off buildings, windows were smashed, power was lost and homes were flooded as residents took shelter.

About 40 people were reportedly inside an evacuation centre in Exmouth when the roof sheets were ripped off.

Seven News reports that it was too dangerous to evacuate anyone from the hall, so the terrified evacuees had to weather the storm inside the damaged building.

A service station was also destroyed with windows smashed and bowsers torn apart.

Roof panels were ripped off a house in Exmouth. Photo: 7News

Narelle tracked south to Coral Bay and made landfall just south of the tiny town before weakening to a category three system.

The storm passed to the east of Carnarvon on Friday afternoon as a category three before further weakening into a category two system northeast of Kalbarri and Geraldton.

“We’re expecting some pretty significant damage,” Department and Fire and Emergency Services Commissioner Darren Klemm said on Friday.

“As we get a clearer picture of the extent of the damage, (emergency services) will continue to work with the local governments and communities in the region to determine what sort of support they need for the ongoing impacts.”

Exmouth was expected to be severely impacted, Klemm said.

A Shell petrol station was smashed apart. Photo: Facebook 

On Saturday morning, Narelle was a category two system located 185 kilometres north-northeast of Geraldton.

The cyclone was expected to continue its southeast trajectory into the northern Wheatbelt on Saturday.

“Narelle lies over the Gascoyne southeast of Denham and is weakening as it moves quickly south-southeast,” warned BOM.

Cyclone Narelle is moving inland on Saturday as a category two storm. Photo: BOM

“Narelle is expected to continue tracking quickly south-southeast over land while weakening further during today (Saturday).

“Impacts will extend into the Central West, before spreading further inland and south across the South West Land Division.

“The strongest winds are expected to remain on the eastern side of the system.”

Damaging winds and heavy rainfall are possible in southeast WA, as the system passes through the Wheatbelt region before moving off the south coast into the Southern Ocean.

-with AAP