‘Not much left’: Kalbarri counts cost of Cyclone Seroja’s fury

Kalbarri residents are counting the costs of the path of destruction Cyclone Seroja carved through the region on Sunday night. The cyclone made landfall south of the town at about 8pm as a category three storm with wind gusts up to 170km/h. Dozens of residents have reported they’ve been left without a roof and their homes have been destroyed. Horse riding business Big River Ranch owners Sue and Rex Smith said their property, about 2km north of Kalbarri, was decimated — with almost every building damaged. “There’s not much left. We lost pretty well all of our budget accommodation, fencing, we have that white railing fencing, two stables and a hay shed,” Mr Smith said. He said while their main two-storey homestead was still standing, two of the rooms had sustained serious water damage. The couple also housed two families who were stuck in Kalbarri when the cyclone ripped the roof of their farmstay accommodation. “I tried to keep them as safe as I could. They made tents out of the bunk beds with the mattresses. Can you believe it? The SES got here around 1am and evacuated the families into town somewhere safe,” he said. The duo’s farmstay and ranch workers also had to relocate from their lodging into the Smith’s home during the ordeal. Their business offers guided trail riding experiences around their range and along the Murchison River. Seroja has now been downgraded to a tropical low but a red alert remains in place for Kalbarri and Northampton. Residents in those areas are urged to stay home for now. Kalbarri ward councillor Stewart Smith said he and his wife stood against their doors to try and hold back the winds during Cyclone Seroja and were lucky to have escaped serious destruction. “We’re still cleaning up. We have minor damage to our fences, we’re one of the lucky ones. We did everything we possibly could to prepare, sealed everything off. The wind was so strong, we’ve got these big sliding doors that were inching in for over an hour. “What I understand down town has been ravaged. Down town the buildings are quite old, a lot built in the 50s, and they’ve been severely damaged. There are (power) poles down everywhere. “Most locals are in the same position; they’re scratching their head (about) what they can do.” Kalbarri Newsagency owner Greg Morgan estimated at least $10,000 in structural damage and stock loss at his local business. For the past 22 years his family have operated out of the Porter Street store and estimated it would take days to get newsagency running again. “The front doors were pushed in. We’ve got some impact with water damage on stock,” he said. “Once we can get in there and clean it up, we’ll be right by Wednesday. I’m going to leave it until I get someone to prop it up so it’s safe. I don't think we'll see visitors her for a while. It was a good hour, just constant and driving rain but it eased off very quickly.” Mr Morgan also owns short stay accommodation The View Kalbarri but said the two-storey brick home sustained little damage during the night. The ex-cyclone is expected to continue to weaken further on Monday before moving offshore from the south coast in the afternoon. Western Power said more than 31,500 customers had lost power in Kalbarri, Geraldton, Northampton, Dongara, Port Denison and Mullewa. “Our top priority will be to make hazards safe, then commence restoration work as quickly as possible,” asset operations manager Zane Christmas said. With AAP