A massive storm is wreaking havoc on southern coastal parts of Western Australia, including Perth, with thousands of homes without power, trees down and reports of widespread property damage.
The State Emergency Service has responded to hundreds of callouts for property damage and tens of thousands of properties across WA are still without power as of Monday 25th June.
Most of the damage was structural and roof damage with the majority of callouts in the Perth metropolitan area and Mid-West Gascoyne. Wind gusts of up to 132 kilometres per hour were recorded at Cape Leeuwin, in the state’s south-west, at 4:15am.
Western Power is working to restore supplies to about 50,000 properties from the Mid-West to the Great Southern districts, including Perth.
Bureau of Meteorology (BOM) forecaster Rohan Smith told ABC Radio damaging winds would continue for much of the south of the state throughout Monday.
“Between Kalbarri and Augusta, people on the coast need to watch out for a dangerous storm tide, which is going to be well above the normal high tide mark, with damaging waves and flooding also expected.
The unusual weather is the result of a system from ex-Tropical Cyclone Mangga interacting with a cold front.
The official Australian cyclone season ended on April 30 and BOM said while some cyclones were known to form in early May, it was rare to see one so late in the month.
Rebecca Trigger
