By Sarah Brookes
It was another sweaty night for thousands of people as Western Power slowly repairs extensive damage to its network from Tuesday’s freak powerful storm.
Around 31,500 homes and businesses east of Perth remain without power including Glen Forrest, Mundaring, Kalamunda and Wheatbelt communities after the region was pounded with intense rainfall and wild winds.
About half of those, including 7000 properties in the Perth hills, have not had power for two days.
Mundaring flooded from the storm on Tuesday.Credit: Jess Byrne
The utility said more than 100 poles and hundreds of kilometres of conductor were damaged across the network.
Western Power, in a statement, said current restorations times were unknown for many with the extent of the damage more severe than initially thought.
“We know that there are still some customers who are without power following earlier severe weather conditions, rest assured we know your outages have been extended and frustrating and we are working hard to restore you as soon as we can,” the statement read.
Acting chief executive Jacqui Hall encouraged customers impacted by the outages to consider making alternative arrangements as their duration may be extended.
She acknowledged unknown restoration times were frustrating, but until the damage and the repairs required were determined, accurate restoration times could not be provided.
“The damage area is massive, with seven transmission lines out of service,” she said.
“Western Power crews worked through the night to respond to hundreds of hazards due to the storm, and we have 100 remaining that we are responding to make safe before repairs and restoration can commence.
“All available crews, including regional, have been deployed and we have called contractors in and mobilised helicopter patrols.
“All planned works have been cancelled where not critical.”
Affected homeowners packed Hills libraries for respite with the Boya Library providing desks and chairs for people to work from.
Mundaring mum of three Carolyn has been without power since Tuesday night with no known restoration time.
She said while the outage was stressful it was an opportunity to unplug from modern appliances.
“I’m quite well-prepared for power outages, I have a generator and can use it to run my fridge and most appliances, I have a lamp on in the evening and keep phones charged along with a radio,” she said.
“The kids have had to push through boredom with the absence of TV, YouTube and Netflix but they are getting creative with painting, crafting, building and rediscovering hot wheels toys.”
It has been a busy week for crews with repair work already underway to restore customers impacted by a number of bushfires, and previous storm activity from the past week.
Western Power said when restoring power, its guidelines determine the order of repairs so essential services and the highest number of customer connections can be repaired as soon as possible.
On Wednesday morning police said they had been made aware that members of the community may be unable to call the assistance or emergency line due to communication outages caused by the storm.
The storm came quickly and with little warning with the Bureau of Meteorology issuing a severe weather warning just after 12.30pm, less than an hour before it hit the city.
Lake Chittering recorded 28 millimetres of rain in 30 minutes just after 12.35pm while Millendon reported wind gusts of 94 kilometres an hour around 1pm.
Residents struggling to stay cool can expect a reprieve with the Bureau predicting cooling overnight temperatures and a high of 27 degrees on Thursday and 28 degrees on Friday.
However residents in parts of the Great Southern, Central Wheat Belt, Gascoyne, South West and South Coastal Districts have been put on alert ahead of another severe thunderstorm this evening.
Locations which may be affected include Albany, Katanning, Merredin, Mount Barker, Wagin and Walpole.
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