Back-to-Back Storms Batter Western Australia, Causing Power Outages

(MENAFN) Tens of thousands of Western Australian residents were left without electricity Monday after a brutal pair of storms tore through the state's southern half over the long weekend, toppling trees, downing power lines, and triggering hundreds of emergency responses.

Roughly 70,000 electricity customers faced outages as storm warnings remained active across wide swaths of the region, the Australian Broadcasting Corporation reported. The first wave struck Saturday night, bringing fierce winds and heavy rain, before a second, more destructive storm barreled through Sunday evening — upending WA Day holiday plans and forcing inbound flights to Perth Airport to be rerouted.

Coastal areas bore the brunt of the fury. Cape Naturaliste recorded wind gusts of up to 135 kilometers (84 miles) per hour — equivalent to cyclone-force strength.

In the seaside Perth suburb of Cottesloe, the roof of an apartment building was ripped entirely from the structure, with several nearby properties sustaining damage, the Department of Fire and Emergency Services (DFES) confirmed.

DFES cautioned residents that danger had not passed despite the storms beginning to subside, urging the public to steer clear of compromised structures, uprooted trees, and live electrical hazards on the ground.

Floodwaters prompted authorities to shut down the western stretch of Riverside Drive in Perth's city center, even as rainfall gradually tapered off overnight.

Western Power confirmed it was racing to reconnect approximately 69,000 customers statewide, with over 250 storm-related outages concentrated in the South West region alone. The utility did not downplay the scale of the challenge ahead, characterizing the recovery effort as an "enormous task."

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