❓ Question regarding the damage caused by recent storms across WA, including impacts on property, power infrastructure, and community safety. The Minister provides an update on the extent of the damage and the ongoing response efforts.
AnsweredQoN 281Legislative Assembly
QuestionView source ↗
STORM
DAMAGE
281. Mr I.M. BRITZA to the Minister for Emergency Services:
I would like to first of all thank the minister for visiting
my electorate of Morley last Friday to view firsthand the effect that the
extreme weather had on my community.
Could the minister please provide the house with an update on
the damage caused by Sunday's storm and the effect it has had more
broadly across our state?
DAMAGE
281. Mr I.M. BRITZA to the Minister for Emergency Services:
I would like to first of all thank the minister for visiting
my electorate of Morley last Friday to view firsthand the effect that the
extreme weather had on my community.
Could the minister please provide the house with an update on
the damage caused by Sunday's storm and the effect it has had more
broadly across our state?
AnswerView source ↗
I thank the member for some notice of this question. Before I
answer, on behalf of the member for South Perth, who has just whispered
politely in my ear, I acknowledge the now departing year 8 students from
Penrhos College.
It would be fair to say and obvious that in the last week
this state has experienced some unusually violent weather conditions. Firstly,
we had the tornado last week that impacted on the member for Morley's
electorate: particularly areas of Dianella and adjacent areas in Morley. On
Sunday afternoon we had a severe storm front cross the coast, which had
extensive and widespread impacts right across the south west. The impact of
this, as I said, has been many and varied. Clearly there has been some
significant damage to property. We now have circumstances, as we visited last
week in Morley, where a number of properties are uninhabitable. That is a huge
impact on those people's houses. The member for Morley and I visited
the house of a young couple. It was their first home that they had just
finished renovating and was now completely uninhabitable. This is the human
cost of what we are now working through. We have had significant property
damage not just in Dianella and Morley but more broadly across the metropolitan
area and through the south west.
Interestingly, the areas that were
particularly impacted were around Cockburn, Rockingham, Mandurah and Bunbury
and more broadly in the south west. The SES received over 700 requests for assistance
during that time. There was also significant damage to electricity
infrastructure. Western Power's advice is that the storm event on
Sunday had the single biggest impact of any event in history on the south west
integrated power network, easily eclipsing the impact of the March 2010
hailstorm incident. Why? It is because it was severe and widespread. Sixty
power poles were blown over or snapped. Some 270-plus power lines were brought
down. This has caused major challenges for Western Power. The Western Power
callout line had over 200 000 calls and, at its peak, there were some 170 000
Western Power clients around the state without energy. I would just like to
take the opportunity to acknowledge those Western Power employees and
contractors who have worked so hard through day and night in very difficult
circumstances to bring power back on. My advice is that there are still about
18 000 households without power across the state. A lot of those are in country
areas like Donnybrook, Pinjarra and Boddington, but also areas like Kewdale,
and other parts of the metropolitan area are still being impacted.
Interestingly, 13 hospitals were
without power, as were a large number of traffic lights in particular across
the metropolitan area. Power outages potentially affected supplies of water and
potentially affected the capacity to gather and treat wastewater. That is on
top of the impact on households.
I also acknowledge the efforts of
the many thousands of volunteers across the state who have participated in the
clean-up and in protecting communities and in making people safe. It is not
only the 2 000 or so SES volunteers across the state. They have been supported
by other emergency services volunteers from bushfire brigades and volunteer
fire and rescue services. Career firefighters are now positioned across the
south west to assist. People from the DEC and a whole range of government
agencies have been activated to provide this response.
The challenge, of course, Mr
Speaker, as you would be aware, is that tonight another significant storm front
will cross the coast. I suspect it may already be impacting on the south coast.
It is estimated to hit the city around 8 o'clock tonight. That has the
potential to also cause significant damage. The advice I have is that it will
be similar in magnitude to Sunday's storm with winds up to 125
kilometres an hour. The advice we must give to our communities is to do
everything they can to stay safe. Unfortunately, today there was the death of a
person who, as I have been advised, was attempting to assist a friend repair
either a house, a part of a house or a shed. They have fallen through and
tragically been killed. These types of events can have significant
consequences.
We are urging people to be safe—to
stay safe on the roads, to stay safe in their communities and, very
importantly, to keep an eye on their neighbours. There are a lot of vulnerable
people in our society. At times like this when there is no power, especially at
night with a significant storm, it is important that everyone takes the
opportunity to keep an eye on their neighbours. The volunteers and professional
people who will be protecting our communities will be out there. We are well
prepared for tonight's storm, but we all have an obligation to do what
we can to keep our families, our homes, our communities and in particular
vulnerable people in those communities safe.
answer, on behalf of the member for South Perth, who has just whispered
politely in my ear, I acknowledge the now departing year 8 students from
Penrhos College.
It would be fair to say and obvious that in the last week
this state has experienced some unusually violent weather conditions. Firstly,
we had the tornado last week that impacted on the member for Morley's
electorate: particularly areas of Dianella and adjacent areas in Morley. On
Sunday afternoon we had a severe storm front cross the coast, which had
extensive and widespread impacts right across the south west. The impact of
this, as I said, has been many and varied. Clearly there has been some
significant damage to property. We now have circumstances, as we visited last
week in Morley, where a number of properties are uninhabitable. That is a huge
impact on those people's houses. The member for Morley and I visited
the house of a young couple. It was their first home that they had just
finished renovating and was now completely uninhabitable. This is the human
cost of what we are now working through. We have had significant property
damage not just in Dianella and Morley but more broadly across the metropolitan
area and through the south west.
Interestingly, the areas that were
particularly impacted were around Cockburn, Rockingham, Mandurah and Bunbury
and more broadly in the south west. The SES received over 700 requests for assistance
during that time. There was also significant damage to electricity
infrastructure. Western Power's advice is that the storm event on
Sunday had the single biggest impact of any event in history on the south west
integrated power network, easily eclipsing the impact of the March 2010
hailstorm incident. Why? It is because it was severe and widespread. Sixty
power poles were blown over or snapped. Some 270-plus power lines were brought
down. This has caused major challenges for Western Power. The Western Power
callout line had over 200 000 calls and, at its peak, there were some 170 000
Western Power clients around the state without energy. I would just like to
take the opportunity to acknowledge those Western Power employees and
contractors who have worked so hard through day and night in very difficult
circumstances to bring power back on. My advice is that there are still about
18 000 households without power across the state. A lot of those are in country
areas like Donnybrook, Pinjarra and Boddington, but also areas like Kewdale,
and other parts of the metropolitan area are still being impacted.
Interestingly, 13 hospitals were
without power, as were a large number of traffic lights in particular across
the metropolitan area. Power outages potentially affected supplies of water and
potentially affected the capacity to gather and treat wastewater. That is on
top of the impact on households.
I also acknowledge the efforts of
the many thousands of volunteers across the state who have participated in the
clean-up and in protecting communities and in making people safe. It is not
only the 2 000 or so SES volunteers across the state. They have been supported
by other emergency services volunteers from bushfire brigades and volunteer
fire and rescue services. Career firefighters are now positioned across the
south west to assist. People from the DEC and a whole range of government
agencies have been activated to provide this response.
The challenge, of course, Mr
Speaker, as you would be aware, is that tonight another significant storm front
will cross the coast. I suspect it may already be impacting on the south coast.
It is estimated to hit the city around 8 o'clock tonight. That has the
potential to also cause significant damage. The advice I have is that it will
be similar in magnitude to Sunday's storm with winds up to 125
kilometres an hour. The advice we must give to our communities is to do
everything they can to stay safe. Unfortunately, today there was the death of a
person who, as I have been advised, was attempting to assist a friend repair
either a house, a part of a house or a shed. They have fallen through and
tragically been killed. These types of events can have significant
consequences.
We are urging people to be safe—to
stay safe on the roads, to stay safe in their communities and, very
importantly, to keep an eye on their neighbours. There are a lot of vulnerable
people in our society. At times like this when there is no power, especially at
night with a significant storm, it is important that everyone takes the
opportunity to keep an eye on their neighbours. The volunteers and professional
people who will be protecting our communities will be out there. We are well
prepared for tonight's storm, but we all have an obligation to do what
we can to keep our families, our homes, our communities and in particular
vulnerable people in those communities safe.
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