Ex-tropical cyclone Mangga to ravage Western Australia’s coast with heavy wind, rain and waves

At least 18,000 homes are already without power across Western Australia, as the state braces for a “catastrophic” storm.

WA residents should brace for a once in a century storm.

At least 18,000 homes and businesses are already without power across Western Australia, with the state set to be lashed by “rare and dangerous” winds and tides today as ex-tropical cyclone Mangga reaches the west coast.

Just under 10,000 of the affected properties are in WA's Mid West region, between Kalbarri and Leeman, and about 6,500 homes and businesses in metropolitan Perth have been impacted by the storm.

Suburbs east of Perth have been hit hardest by the outages, including Bayswater, Bassendean and Ashfield, along with the hills suburbs of Sawyers Valley and Mount Helena.

At least 33 calls for assistance have been recorded so far.

“Strong north-easterly winds are already being felt, and they’re whipping up a lot of dust as well,” Bureau of Meteorology WA state manager James Ashley said in a press briefing on Sunday afternoon.

“Those conditions are expected to continue southwards and affect Perth and the southwest of the state later today. We’re still expecting falls of up to 100mm or so. For Perth, the worst of the weather is expected through the night and into tomorrow.

“We’re really confident there’s going to be a very deep low-pressure system which will pass south west of the state, the actual low centre unlikely to go over land – but it’s such an intense system that it’s likely to generate conditions much worse than we saw two weeks ago.”

He described the storm system as “dynamic and complex.”

#WA is virtually cloud free but that is about to change. Tropical moisture is starting to feed into a trough & approaching cold front which will bring severe weather to much of western WA on Sunday & Monday. Warning details found at https://t.co/pkLIJo91tt pic.twitter.com/G11nCtPQM1

— Bureau of Meteorology, Western Australia (@BOM_WA) May 23, 2020

The remnants of Tropical Cyclone Mangga will smash the entire 3000km of Western Australia's coastline. Picture: BOM

Residents have also been told to avoid freeways and unnecessary travel, as the state braces for “fairly catastrophic” conditions.

Experts predict winds could be moving as fast as 130km/h, which could cause significant property damage in the Gascoyne region along the mid-west.

At the same time, “abnormally high tides” will lead to a coastal inundation, which could threaten property and key infrastructure near the sea.

Department of Fire and Emergency Services Chief Superintendent Danny Mosconi confirmed the first requests of assistance were being answered by the State Emergency Service.

“We had nearly 40 requests of assistance from the Mid West, Gascoyne, which includes Geraldton and the Kalbarri area,” he said. “We are starting to get some impacts in the metro area now.”

He also said DFES expected the storm would be more damaging than the severe weather Perth experienced early in May.

“We had over 500 requests for assistance so we are gearing up to expect more than that,” he said.

“We’re asking the community to exercise caution, and stay indoors where possible.”

WA residents should brace for a once in a century storm.

“The ex-tropical cyclone is most likely to make landfall somewhere on the west coast there, central west coast, maybe somewhere near Geraldton,” Sky News Meteorologist Rob Sharpe warned this morning.

“It’s where those cyclones make landfall that we’re going to have the most dangerous weather.”

Heavy winds and rain will ravage those areas.

“Widespread damaging winds through the west but it’s the gust of about 130km/h that’s going to cause damage to property,” Mr Sharpe reported.

Western Australia’s Department of Fire and Emergency Services (DFES) acting assistant commissioner Jon Broomhall said people need to act now to secure their homes.

"This is going to … test people's buildings, sheds, and all those unsecured items,” he told the ABC.

"We're asking people to secure property, make sure everything loose is tied down."

Coastal inundation threatens houses near the sea, which are normally safe.

Electricity companies are also bracing for significant outages and disruption to the grid as the cyclone wreaks havoc.

The state’s capital won’t be spared, with a cold front reaching Perth about 6am this morning.

“We’ll see a new burst of wind and rain (for Perth),” Mr Sharpe confirmed.

The extreme weather outlook appears to be a two-pronged attack by Mother Nature, by both air and sea, with the ocean also posing a significant risk.

Waves along the coast are expected to reach up to 8 metres high and will reach around 1,000 kilometres of coastline as it travels south from Sunday morning until Monday.

“Abnormally high tides (will) lead to coastal inundation,” Mr Sharpe said.

“We’ll see very big waves coming into the west coast, particularly the central west and into the lower west in the Margaret River area.

“It’ll by way too dangerous for anybody to be out in the water.”

Emergency service also warned people not head out on the water.

"We don't need our marine rescue volunteers' lives put at risk by people making silly decisions to go boating or surfing in these conditions,” Mr Broomhall said.

Prepare for an unusually widespread severe weather event along the west coast. Heavy rain and very gusty winds likely with dangerous surf and storm tides. By Sun night, severe weather will be confined to the SW of WA, easing during Mon. Latest warnings - https://t.co/X0UmpCmgQa pic.twitter.com/H8lTPQiTD7

— Bureau of Meteorology, Western Australia (@BOM_WA) May 23, 2020

However, conditions are meant to ease tomorrow.

“We’ll then slowly see easing of conditions through Monday,” Mr Sharpe said.