A mammoth clean-up effort is continuing across WA after one of the strongest storms on record left a trail of destruction, stranding boats along the coast, uprooting trees, tearing roofs and fences from properties, flooding roads and causing widespread traffic chaos.
WA recorded its strongest ever wind gusts for May at four locations, with Cape Naturalist registering 135km/h, Busselton Jetty recording 120km/h, Garden Island 106km/h and Dwellingup 98km/h.
The Department of Fire and Emergency Services responded to more than 844 calls for help, while at the peak of the low pressure system at least 80,000 homes were left without power.
The number of people seeking assistance was more than eight times higher than expected for a storm at this time of year.
“On a normal, typical storm at this time of the year, you might have 100 requests for assistance. We understand there’s more than 800 for this storm, so this is a really big event,” Emergency Services Minister Paul Papalia said.
DFES Assistant Commissioner Jon Broomhall said that of the 844 requests for assistance, more than 600 came from the metropolitan area and 198 from the South West.
Energy and Decarbonisation Minister Amber-Jade Sanderson confirmed 135,000 homes had their power restored by Monday evening.
“Overall, through this event, 160,000 households lost power at least one time,” she said.
“The worst affected areas included Wellard, Rivervale, Hamilton Hill, and some areas in Perth.
“Donnybrook, Quaranup, and Yallingup in the South West.
“Certainly it’s one of the biggest events we’ve had over this decade, but as we’ve seen these extreme weather events are becoming more frequent due to warming climates.”
Warnings were issued for dangerous swell conditions, with waves exceeding 10 metres recorded in the South West and off the south-west coast of Rottnest.
The unusually deep low-pressure system brought destructive winds across much of WA’s South West and near-record rainfall to several areas, according to Bureau of Meteorology meteorologist Robert Urbaniak.
“It’s been an unusually windy system, that’s for sure,” Mr Urbaniak said.
“The amount of rain it dumped was quite high. Many locations got up to around 50mm and over in the South West. That is pretty abnormal for this time of year.”
Capel and Ludlow were among the hardest-hit locations, each receiving more than 55mm of rain.
Perth’s rainfall was modest by comparison, with about 30mm recorded — about half of what would be required to threaten rainfall records.
The Bureau of Meteorology said significant coastal erosion was expected along large stretches of the coastline.
As many as five boats in Rockingham broke free from their moorings and by Monday had been washed ashore.
Further south, popular food and wine destinations were unable to welcome the usual influx of public holiday visitors after widespread power outages affected significant parts of the South West.
Vasse Felix winery and Caves House Hotel were among the businesses forced to remain closed on Monday.
Several glamping tents at Rottnest Island’s popular Pinky’s Beach precinct are understood to have been badly damaged in the powerful storm.
A yacht was also washed ashore near Rockingham, leaving the vessel — one of several stranded along the coast — grounded on the shoreline.
Two groups of motorists miraculously escaped serious injury after falling trees crushed their vehicles during the height of Sunday’s destructive storm across the South West.
Emergency services were first called to South Western Highway in Glen Iris about 12.30pm after a tree crashed on to a moving green Haval station wagon.
The driver and passenger, both women in their 60s, were assessed by St John WA paramedics at the scene but remarkably escaped injury.
Just over an hour later, another tree fell on to a grey Honda HR-V travelling along Bussell Highway near Roy Road in Metricup.
A 71-year-old woman became trapped inside the vehicle and had to be freed by firefighters, while the 70-year-old male driver escaped without serious injury.
Two men were rescued from a stranded yacht off Quindalup on Saturday afternoon after deteriorating weather conditions left them trapped at sea as the storm intensified.
Mr Broomhall reminded the public that storm advice remained in place as the clean-up operation continued.
“We’re asking people to stay away from damaged buildings and other hazards, and that’s particularly in Cottesloe and Bunbury, where there’s been some three or four storey apartments that have lost their roofs,” he said.
It remains unclear how long the recovery effort will take.
“The immediate response is almost complete, really, in terms of securing people who’ve lost roofs and had water ingress,” Mr Papalia said.
“But I’ve driven down south yesterday and there’s a lot of trees down, a lot of branches down, a lot of debris on the roads, that sort of thing. You know, local governments, a lot of their workers will be busy for some time with that.
“Corrective services personnel, potentially, may be called out if prisoners are required to help, particularly in places like Bunbury and surrounds, but haven’t had a request for that yet.”
A spokesperson for the Insurance Council of Australia said it was too early to determine the full cost of the damage.
“Insurers are closely monitoring the ongoing severe weather across parts of Western Australia, with many on standby to support impacted customers,” the spokesperson said.
The Insurance Council encourages impacted policyholders to get in touch with their insurer and lodge a claim as soon as it’s safe to do so, even if the full extent of the damage is unknown.
Get the latest news from thewest.com.au in your inbox.
Sign up for our emails