"I want to thank those members of the public who heeded the warnings and prepared their properties, that's a critical part of reducing the workload on the SES volunteers.

A massive storm has wreaked havoc on southern coastal parts of Western Australia, including Perth, with thousands of homes without power, trees down and reports of widespread property damage.State Emergency Services (SES) staff have answered hundreds of calls for help since Sunday night.Most were for structural and roof damage with the majority of call-outs 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 on Monday,Western Power said on Monday night it was still working to restore supplies to about 10,000 properties from the Mid West to the Great Southern districts, with more than 6,000 of them in Perth.At the peak of the storm, power was cut to about 65,000 properties. "We replanted, now [the plants] are just coming through and [this storm has] smashed them again. "He said he would now have to replant his carrot crop again, at significant cost. Posted February 26, 2020 09:27:49 ... Schools closed today after storm damage.

"Barrack Street Jetty is already above the highest astronomical tide this morning," Mr Tarr said. "We also saw very heavy rainfall, but also storm surges along the west coast, and the tides rose much higher than the predicted tide.

"A lot of our rural roads … have large trees over them, large volumes of sand out on some of those bituminised rural streets are going to require clearing. "Margaret River [has had] around 50mm and 60mm up in Exmouth," Mr Bennett said.But he said Pilbara coastal areas had received the heaviest falls because it was still dealing with "all the tropical air up there".The storm has caused significant erosion at Port Beach, near Fremantle.A section of the car park has fallen into the ocean, and a large area around it has been fenced off.The State Government recently contributed $200,000 to build a rock wall to try to shore up the long-degraded coastline.But that part of the beach where there is no rock wall has suffered badly from the storm surge and large swells.The dunes at Cottesloe Beach have also been eroded by the storm, as waves wash away the sand.Big storm swells crashed into the groyne on Monday morning and into the iconic sea pylon in the water off the beach, completely submerging it at times.The storm surge and high tides pushed the ocean right up the beach to the bottom of the dunes, leaving them being eroded hour by hour by the swirling mass of water.Earlier, a group of elderly swimmers braved the water and ferocious wind for their traditional morning plunge. "Probably going to cost you $30,000-$40,000 to replant them twice, and potential income in the future," he said.Stay safe and informed with ABC's checklists & survival kits.This service may include material from Agence France-Presse (AFP), APTN, Reuters, AAP, CNN and the BBC World Service which is copyright and cannot be reproduced.Space to play or pause, M to mute, left and right arrows to seek, up and down arrows for volume.Space to play or pause, M to mute, left and right arrows to seek, up and down arrows for volume.Homes, businesses damaged and thousands without power as 'dynamic and complex' storm hits WA coast'Unprecedented' cyclone forms off WA a week out from winter and Perth will feel its force on SundayHeavy rain, strong winds forecast as rare storm heads for WA coastHow six hours could have prevented the tragedy of the Ruby Princess'As inexplicable as it is unjustifiable': Ruby Princess report slams NSW HealthWhat we know, don't know and may never know about 'patient zero' of Victoria's second waveCoronavirus update: Smoking curbed, nightclubs shut in Spain, Indonesia joins Chinese vaccine trials'Screaming in their sleep like they're being murdered': Ex-soldiers sound alarm on potential COVID-19 drug'She literally begged for an ambulance': Midwives charged after mother dies during home birthVictorian restrictions won't lift until transmission 'lowest possible level', man under 30 diesWhy this Tiktok sock face mask trend won't protect you (and others) from coronavirusAuckland to remain under coronavirus restrictions for 12 more daysKiller attended victim's funeral and offered condolences to his family, court toldAnalysis: The winners and losers from the final drop of AFL fixturesCanberra students use school network to send pornography links and requests for nudes to children across ACTSydney girls' school linked to 21 COVID-19 cases did not breach rules, police findGeelong proves its premiership credentials by flogging table-topping PortPanthers win over Warriors marred by alleged racial abuse in crowd, Dragons see off McGregor in style'She literally begged for an ambulance': Midwives charged after mother dies during home birth'Screaming in their sleep like they're being murdered': Ex-soldiers sound alarm on potential COVID-19 drugGenetic testing shows coronavirus outbreak strain new to NZ, Ardern saysCoronavirus update: Smoking curbed, nightclubs shut in Spain, Indonesia joins Chinese vaccine trialsHow six hours could have prevented the tragedy of the Ruby PrincessWhat we know, don't know and may never know about 'patient zero' of Victoria's second waveHow six hours could have prevented the tragedy of the Ruby Princess'As inexplicable as it is unjustifiable': Ruby Princess report slams NSW HealthWhat we know, don't know and may never know about 'patient zero' of Victoria's second waveCoronavirus update: Smoking curbed, nightclubs shut in Spain, Indonesia joins Chinese vaccine trials'Screaming in their sleep like they're being murdered': Ex-soldiers sound alarm on potential COVID-19 drug'She literally begged for an ambulance': Midwives charged after mother dies during home birthVictorian restrictions won't lift until transmission 'lowest possible level', man under 30 diesWhy this Tiktok sock face mask trend won't protect you (and others) from coronavirusAuckland to remain under coronavirus restrictions for 12 more daysCoronavirus update: Smoking curbed, nightclubs shut in Spain, Indonesia joins Chinese vaccine trialsGeelong proves its premiership credentials by flogging table-topping PortCanberra students use school network to send pornography links and requests for nudes to children across ACTPanthers win over Warriors marred by alleged racial abuse in crowd, Dragons see off McGregor in styleHow six hours could have prevented the tragedy of the Ruby PrincessNorth Korea lifts lockdown in Kaesong, rejects flood and coronavirus aid

Abnormally high river conditions are expected in Perth this morning, during high tide, with some flooding likely. A massive storm continues to wreak havoc on southern coastal parts of Western Australia, including Perth, with thousands of homes without power, trees down and reports of widespread property damage. "It's obviously in a high-energy part of the coastline so, when we get these big storms, it is prone to the effects of that high energy," Mr Tannock said.Strong winds were expected to continue throughout the south-west corner of the state, BOM spokesman Neil Bennett said. The official Australian cyclone season ended on April 30 and the Bureau of Meteorology (BOM) said while some cyclones were known to form in early May, it was rare to see one so late in the month.BOM WA regional manager of severe weather Bradley Santos said the only comparable event was back in 2012, when a tropical system interacted with a cold front to produce severe weather over large parts of WA.He said this storm was unusual because of its severity and the size of the area impacted. "That low definitely caused a quite a strong pressure gradient through there and pretty decent westerly gales through there, and I expect the tides were higher than normal through the Geographe Bay area but right along the west coast. "In the south, they had some pretty reasonable falls of 51–52mm around the South West capes, [and] wind gusts, the strongest one we've seen was 132kph at Cape Leeuwin," he said. "[But] overall, compared to larger scale emergency events … the city came out relatively good. WA storm: Thousands without power, buildings damaged in Perth, Geraldton A ferocious “once-in-a-decade” storm system smashed a long stretch of the Western Australia coastline and left a …