Adrian Beattie
Published: October 1, 2016 - 1:38PM
Nearly 16,000 people have been left without power as dangerous winds and heavy rain hit parts of Perth and the south west of WA on Saturday morning.
Western Power spokesman Paul Entwistle said the outages were scattered across the region as the widespread storm caused havoc with power lines.
Around 3000 people are without power in Perth with the suburbs of Nollamara and Balcatta the most heavily affected.
Most of the remaining 13,000 people who have been cut off are in the south west towns of Collie,Donnybrook, Albany and Denmark.
At one point nearly 23,000 people were blacked out.
"Most of the damage has been caused by powerful, gusty winds which have brought trees and other debris into contact with power lines," said Mr Entwistle.
People took to social media complaining that the power outages meant they would not be able to watch the AFL Grand Final.
Appears stormy weather has left us no reception what so ever. Grand final on the radiogram then.
— leonie (@llcord) October 1, 2016
Meanwhile the bad weather is also caused concern for police who were searching for two 4-wheel-drivers who spent the night outdoors after their vehicle became bogged near Dwellingup.
Police received a triple zero call on Friday lunchtime saying that a 29-year-old man called Ian and a 25-year-old woman named Rebecca had become stranded on the Captain Fawcett 4-wheel-drive track.
An aerial search on Saturday morning didn't find the couple's Toyota Hilux, but on Saturday afternoon police received word the couple had been helped by other travellers and no longer needed police help.
The Weather Bureau said a wind gust of 119kmh was recorded at Cape Naturaliste and a gust of 117kmh was recorded Cape Leeuwin while winds in excess of 100kmh have battered Busselton.
Police reported that power lines were down in Gledhow on the outskirts of Albany and at Ferguson Close in West Swan.
Meanwhile Main Roads reported that the Lake Grace to Newdegate Road in the Wheatbelt was blocked by a fallen tree.
Forecasters said the dangerous weather was worse than usual for this time of year and was caused by a cold front south of Albany which will move over the rest of the south west during Saturday.
The danger area includes Narrogin,Katanning, Bridgetown, Margaret River, Busselton, Bunbury, Albany and Esperance.
Dangerous surf conditions are likely, possibly causing significant beach erosion," the warning said.
"Storm force winds are likely for the Leeuwin Coast and Albany Coast. A gale warning is in place for Perth local waters, Lancellin, the Bunbury Geographe coast, Esperance and Eucla coast.
"Sheep farmers are warned that cold temperatures, showers and strong winds mean there is a risk of loss of lambs and sheep exposed to these conditions."
This year Perth's coldest September nights ever were recorded.
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This story was found at: http://www.watoday.com.au/wa-news/dangerous-weather-warning-for-south-west-of-wa--homes-and-property-under-threat-20161001-grster.html