Aussies let off steam after cyclone

Stir-crazy residents in cyclone-ravaged Western Australia are starting to emerge from their homes and are letting off some steam on social media.

Households across the state's northwest have been in lockdown for two days as cyclone Rusty barrelled across the Pilbara, forcing many residents to be stuck indoors.

But with some areas now out of the danger zone and some alert warnings downgraded, a string of zany videos have been posted on the internet as locals being to relax.

YouTube user Nayden Chino posted a clip of himself surfing a longboard along what appears to be a flood irrigation channel in Broome, pulled on a tow rope behind a car.

"When the cyclone eventually blows out the surf its time to do some mud skippering," he wrote in a comment accompanying the four-minute clip.

Another YouTuber, Jarrah Fish, posted a video of two people dressed as Cookie Monster and Elmo, the characters from Sesame Street, riding a bike.

The pair set off along a wet and windy WA street before Cookie Monster falls off the back of the bike, landing in a fit of giggles on the road.

Another video shows a group of storm chasers performing the Harlem Shake dance, the internet meme invented by five teenagers on Queensland's Sunshine Coast.

The storm chasers' video, which was actually posted by Hannah Weddell just before Rusty struck the Pilbara has the five protagonists performing the dance in a rainy-looking backyard.

Meanwhile, social media users across Australia have started to express their relief that Rusty has weakened slightly.

As of Thursday morning, the category two cyclone was moving south and inland, with red alerts still in place for residents between Pardoo and Nullagine.

A number of towns are still in the firing line - but it appears many areas have not been as badly affected as first predicted.

"Good morning, heard that Cyclone Rusty wasn't so bad - thank goodness. Have a happy day," one person wrote on Twitter.