WA storm leaves thousands without power across the state

The Department of Fire and Emergency Services has upgraded wild weather warnings across the state to watch-and-act levels due to damaging to destructive winds forecast this evening.

Thousands of WA homes are without power across the state as wild weather continues to batter the South West and metropolitan areas, with experts warning the strong winds will continue into Monday.

DFES has reported that more than 511 requests for assistance as a result of the severe weather, with the highest number of reports coming from the Perth metropolitan area, followed by Peel, the South West and the Lower South West

Reports include water ingress, flooding, roof damage, structural damage and fallen trees.

DFES says significant roof damage has occurred to apartment buildings in Cottesloe and Bunbury, warning that strong winds may cause roofing material and debris to become airborne, posing a risk to people, vehicles and nearby properties.

More than 30,000 customers are without power across parts of the metropolitan and South West regions. Western Power emergency response crews are working to address more than 160 hazards and outages caused by severe storm conditions.

Damaging and destructive winds associated with the storm have thrown debris, including tree branches, into the network, damaging equipment and bringing down powerlines.

A Western Power spokesperson said the corporation had restored thousands of customers throughout the day but as the storm front continues, numbers may climb as damage is reported.

“There are further damaging and destructive winds forecast throughout the evening, and we recommend affected customers prepare for extended outages with many customers expected to be without power overnight,” the spokesperson said.

“Our priority is responding to reported hazards to ensure the safety of the community and our crews.

“Due to the severe weather and dangerous winds, our crews cannot currently undertake repair works as it is unsafe to operate equipment like elevated work platforms or conduct network patrols via helicopter.”

People leaving the West Coast Eagles match at Optus Stadium this evening have been urged to take extra care when travelling home.

Transperth announced that trains between Fremantle station and North Fremantle station are cancelled due to a technical issue, although replacement buses are running.

A tree has fallen on a power line which has caused an outage to more than 1000 customers in Dianella, while more than 5000 homes are without power in the state’s South West region.

Western Power expects power in several of the imp