Cyclone Seroja: Damage bill could reach $200 million as authorities count hundreds of homes destroyed

The cost of Cyclone Seroja has been estimated at $100-$200 million after authorities counted at least 660 damaged properties in the Mid West, including dozens of unlivable homes. The true extent of the damage wreaked by the category three cyclone on Sunday night emerged ahead of Prime Minister Scott Morrison’s visit to Kalbarri on Friday. “The flying sledgehammer” totally destroyed nine homes in the idyllic holiday town, 570km north of Perth, and another 44 were so severely damaged they aren’t safe to live in. Emergency Services Commissioner Darren Klemm revealed on Thursday afternoon that 15 homes and business were totally destroyed across the region, while 155 had been “severely damaged”. Of the 554 buildings that had been examined by today, a further 70 were moderately damaged and 112 slightly – with only five escaping completely unscathed. In Northampton, one hour’s drive south of Kalbarri and home to 868 people, one home was flattened and 39 were left uninhabitable. Another 11 homes are unliveable in Morowa, 10 in Minganew, three in Mullewa and Perenjori, two in Three Springs and one in Eganu. Across the Mid West and Gascoyne regions, authorities have counted 170 homes and businesses that were severely damaged and another 491 that had moderate or slight damage. The number of damaged buildings will almost certainly rise, with 250 yet to be assessed. Kalbarri resident Steve Wiseman, 72, yesterday returned to the ruins of his home. Standing in one of the few rooms that hadn’t collapsed, he broke down as the dust of the last few days settled around him. “This is where she would’ve been sleeping,” Mr Wiseman said of his wife, who suffers from dementia and who he managed to get into a care facility in Geraldton before Seroja barrelled into the town. “She would've died, this would’ve killed her.” The roof of his kitchen was ripped off, causing the front and two side walls to cave in on themselves. “I was hiding in the kitchen, I was lighting a candle and then everything just came straight in,” he said. North West Central MP Vince Catania urged the State Government to coordinate a supply of tradies from across WA or the eastern states. “The Government needs to start that coordination now to start that list to say ‘OK is there enough contractors out there to do the work”’,” he said. The health risk posed by asbestos scattered across Kalbarri and Northampton is a priority, with two national experts flying into help and a bonding agent being applied to stop sheets from breaking up. Mr Klemm said warned the clean-up of asbestos would be a long process. About 30 to 40 people using the Geraldton evacuation centre will be moved into hotels, while plans for longer term accommodation options are developed by State Recovery Controller Melissa Pexton. Amid predictions it could take 18 months to rebuild lost properties, Mark McGowan pledged to speak to builders and insurers to ensure there was a focus on rebuilding Kalbarri and Northampton. He did not rule out offering financial incentives. “We have an extremely strong building industry at this point in time, but that shouldn’t mean that Kalbarri, Northampton, the Mid West and Gascoyne is left behind,” the Premier said. “We’ll be raising these issues with the industry and explaining to them that they have an obligation to make sure that these communities are looked after.” Mr McGowan said tourists would be encouraged to return to Kalbarri “as soon as we can”, with some resorts and tourism operators escaping from the carnage relatively unscathed. “Whether that’s a matter of weeks or months, we don’t know yet, but I committed to the people up there ... that as soon as we can get those communities open, we want them open,” he said. The resilience of the town, as well as the large number of other areas affected including hard-hit Northampton, Horrocks, Port Gregory, Mullewa and Mingenew, has been praised by a series of emergency services workers, police, local councils and MPs and the premier. Not at all surprised by the deep sense of unity and camaraderie, however, is Kalbarri woman Ashe Young, who was helped by six complete strangers after her roof was ripped off her home. “We had about six guys here who chain-sawed it all off,” she said of the roof that had crashed into her patio. “I’m not surprised but it’s very touching. Everyone just came and said, ‘What can we do?’” Her clean-up attempts have been mirrored across the Mid West, Gascoyne and Wheatbelt regions, with 60-plus Army Reservists in the midst of helping DFES crews clean up. WA Police Commissioner Chris Dawson said since Sunday night there had been 32 burglaries in Geraldton, which escaped damaged from the cyclone but has had power blackouts. Mr Dawson said 17 people had been arrested and most of them were first-time offenders from out of town.