WA’s mega storm: SES begins taking calls for help as wild weather begins to lash State

UPDATED: Strong winds during today’s mega storm sparked by Ex-Tropical Cyclone Mangga have blown down a home on David Road in the Geraldton suburb of Waggrakine, as revealed in dramatic phone footage.

David Kidd was returning home from a drive to the coast so his kids could see the storm when he witnessed the front wall of a weatherboard house shaking violently.

The situation escalated quickly as the wind tore the roof off the house, which Mr Kidd said was a wake-up call to take the threat of natural disasters seriously.

WATCH THE VISION IN THE VIDEO PLAYER ABOVE

“It’s been a pretty chaotic day up here with police and firefighters dealing with the bush fire already,” he said.

“The house was blown away so quickly, the home owner turned up just after the video, she was in hysterics I yelled at her not to go near because the power line was down.”

“It’s so lucky she wasn’t home, but this is devastating for the home’s owner.”

The unfortunate incident happened around 11:30am today, with winds reaching up to 80km/h.

Police and Emergency Services attended the scene shortly after to secure the area.

EARLIER: Holidaymakers in WA’s South West are being told to bunker down and not attempt to drive back to Perth until the weather improves, as a mega storm begins to lash south-western parts of the State.

The State Emergency Service has so far received about 40 calls for assistance, mostly in the Mid-West, where strong wind gusts of up to 100km/h whipped up dust storms ahead of heavy rain.

WA’s South West has also been hit will strong winds, heavy rain and coastal storm surges that are expected to continue through until Monday afternoon.

Tourist hotspots in the South West were reported to be heaving on Saturday as people from the metropolitan area enjoyed their first weekend to travel south since regional borders set up in response to the COVID-19 crisis were eased.

Main Roads WA director of metropolitan operations Peter Sewell said while many people had heeded advise to return ahead of the storm, those still in the South West should now consider bunkering down until the conditions improve.

“If you are in the South West at the moment, stay there,” Mr Sewell said. “Don’t travel home tonight this afternoon because as we have heard the weather is going to be catastrophic.

“The intel we are getting from caravans coming back to the city is that there is a bit of wind around and those caravans are moving around. The highways are heavy but steady.”

Department of Fire and Emergency Services Superintendent Danny Mosconi said warnings were in place for a large part of the State to exercise caution until the storm passed.

“We are asking the community to exercise caution,” Supt. Mosconi said. “Stay indoors wherever possible and be mindful of any hazards like debris or fallen branches. Don’t go out on the water on Sunday or Monday. You will be risking not only your life by the lives of the marine rescue volunteers who will be called to help you.”

Weather Bureau state manager James Ashley said the storm was a “rare event” in WA and was the combination of multiple weather systems clashing.

Mr Ashley said parts of the State’s north could expect up to 100mm of rain while southern areas could get up to 50mm. WA’s agricultural areas, where farmers are desperate for rain after a dry start to the year, could get between 10mm and 20mm.

“Strong winds are already occurring across a large part of WA and conditions are only going to get worse,” Mr Ashley said.

“A deep low pressure system will form off the south-west corner and will move closer to the south-west of the State tonight while there is still the possibility of low pressure systems forming in a trough line and impacting part of the west coast during the course of today.

“Wind gusts over 100km/h are already being felt through the Gascoyne, Centre-West and anywhere really from Onslow down to Geraldton and they are whipping up a lot of dust as well.

“Seas and swells are already being whipped up by the system and we are expecting peak wave heights, particularly on Monday, of over eight metres. We are still expecting isolated gusts up to 130km/h, they are still possible in south-west coastal areas today and particularly into tonight and tomorrow morning.

“For Perth, while it is windy and starting to rain, the winds will pick up during the day and the worst of the weather is expected this evening, through the night and into tomorrow morning. It is unlikely to significantly ease until tomorrow afternoon.”

The sweeping storm caused dust to envelop Geraldton and the surrounding areas, with Geraldton recording a wind gust of 113km/h at 1.23pm today, according to the bureau.

Smoke from a nearby bushfire is also understood to have made the visibility conditions even worse.

There is a possible threat to lives and homes in Waggarakine—an outer northern suburb of Geraldton—with the Department of Fire and Emergency Services issuing a watch and act alert.

About 40 firefighters are trying to get the blaze under control.

If your home is damaged in the storm and you need assistance, call the SES on 132 500.