Locals from the oil and mining town of Karratha have expressed their amazement at the lack of damage that the category four cyclone caused.
There were fears Glenda would damage the vulnerable industry infrastructure and endanger lives as it battered the region overnight with winds of up to 200 kilometers per hour.
But Glenda missed major population centres and industry hubs, the storm passed directly over the town of Onslow, about 14-hundred kilometres north of Perth, where water damage to the local hospital and a minor fire in an evacuation centre were the major problems.
"We haven't had anywhere near the damage expected. It has been really minor like downed trees and downed powerlines," a spokeswoman for Western Australia's Fire and Emergency Services Authority (FESA) said.
"It's amazing. Glenda's come in with such gusto and yet there is not much damage," she added.
Flooding has now become the region’s main danger; the weather bureau's Matt Boterhoven said smaller cyclones had passed through the region earlier this year, leaving areas swamped and unable to absorb any more ware.
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The region's industry and ports were starting up again after locking down to ride out the storm.
BHP Billiton Iron Ore spokesman Michael Buzzard said the company's port facilities at Port Hedland had been reopened.
Fellow resource giant, Rio Tinto says it too has returned to work on its iron ore facilities, spokeswoman Megan Crust said most of its staff had returned.
"There are no reports of injuries and no indication of significant damage to operations and rail," Ms Crust said.
"Inland sites received significant rainfall overnight and further assessments will be carried out today," she added.
Woodside Petroleum shut
But Woodside Petroleum remains in lockdown after heavy rain delayed restarting some of its operations in the north-west of WA.
Woodside said oil production from the Cossack Pioneer and Ocean Legend production facility remains shut.
"We anticipate reconnection and a return to production over the next couple of days when sea and weather conditions improve," Woodside spokesperson Kirsten Stoney said.
Banana growers escape damage
Banana growers in Carnarvon have escaped damage from Glenda, a relief to the industry after their commercial rivals in the north Queensland were crushed by Cyclone Larry nearly two weeks ago.
The WA representative on the Australia Banana Growers Council, Tom Day, said if Glenda had traveled further south, the state’s crops would have been wiped out.
"If we had a category four cyclone in Carnarvon we would have had 100 per cent loss and that was going to cause us a lot of heartache with what has happened in Queensland at the moment," Mr Day said.
He said it appeared banana growers had escaped wind damage and looked likely to also escape devastating flooding.