Storms leave tens of thousands without power in Western Australia

Tens of thousands of homes remained without electricity after a series of powerful storms swept across the southern half of Western Australia over the weekend, bringing down trees and power lines and prompting hundreds of emergency callouts, local media reported Monday.

Around 70,000 electricity customers were affected by outages as storm warnings remained in effect across large parts of the state, according to the Australian Broadcasting Corporation.

Heavy rainfall and strong winds on Saturday night were followed by a second major storm Sunday evening, disrupting plans during the WA Day long weekend and forcing some flights bound for Perth Airport to be diverted.

Some areas, including Cape Naturaliste, recorded winds of up to 135 kilometers (84 miles) per hour, reaching cyclone strength.

Several properties were damaged after the roof of an apartment building in the coastal Perth suburb of Cottesloe was torn off, according to the Department of Fire and Emergency Services (DFES).

DFES said that although the storms had eased, hazardous conditions persisted and residents should avoid damaged buildings, fallen trees and downed power lines.

Rainfall in Perth eased overnight, but authorities closed the western section of Riverside Drive in the city center because of flooding.

Western Power said it was working to restore electricity to about 69,000 affected customers across the state, including more than 250 storm-related outages in the South West region.

The company described the recovery operation as an “enormous task.”