Close to 800 homes and properties are still without power after intense storms ripped through Western Australia’s Great Southern Region on the weekend.
The direct link between Albany and Denmark, the South Coast Highway remains closed from flood damage after the torrential storms ripped through several communities, with some saying the damage is unlike anything they have ever seen before.
Bornholm sheep farmers, Justine and Chris Ayres tried desperately to save as many of their stock as they could, taking a boat out into the waters to pick the animals out of the rising waters.
But sadly, more than a hundred sheep died in the floodwaters, resulting in tens of thousands of dollars in losses for their business.
“It was just horrific to see what we saw yesterday тАУ words can’t really describe the feeling you get when you see that,” Ms Ayres told 9News.
Port Albany resident, Ben Cassidy and his family were forced to flee as the torrential rain came hammering down on the weekend.
“Hell broke loose, banging, crashing and next minute there’s rain coming through the roof,” Mr Cassidy told 9News.
“It’s absolutely savage and the longer the water keeps coming through the roof its totally filtering through to the man-cave. It’s just obscene.”
The powerful storm left hundreds of homes damaged and thousands without power.
Albany and Denmark were hit with as much as 100mm of rain on Sunday evening, which led to localised flooding that brought down trees and washed away cars.
A massive clean up effort continued today, with 50 crews on the ground responding to over 160 calls for help.
Local SES volunteers received almost 200 requests for assistance.
Albany airport received 54mm of rain while tourist hotspot Rottnest Island received wind gusts of up to 106 km/h.
More than 15,000 homes were left without power after the storms brought down power lines and towns were deluged by more than a month’s worth of rain in one night.
“While the severe weather warning may have been cancelled, there are many fallen trees, damaged buildings and debris in the area, and South Coast Highway is closed between Link Road Denmark-Mt Barker Road,” the Department of Fire and Emergency Services WA warned residents on Monday.
