Residents shocked by severe storm as South West WA homes left flooded

Residents in the South West Western Australia town of Harvey are grappling with a significant clean-up after a severe storm unleashed flash flooding, leaving homes inundated. The Bureau of Meteorology reported over 40 millimeters of rain fell in just one hour in the area east of the town.

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I've been in Harvey over seven years, and I've never, ever, ever seen anything like that in my whole time here.

One local resident, Kendall Bingham, described the storm as unlike anything he had witnessed in his seven years living in Harvey. "We thought it was just going to be a normal day, you know, like a bit of rain here and there," he said. "It came unannounced and got everyone by surprise."

Bingham recounted how his property was submerged within an hour. "I walked out the front, and the whole road, the whole front yard, the whole backyard was about 20 centimeters underwater," he said. "The water just kept rising and rising and rising, and I thought, 'How deep is this going to go?'" he added, noting the unprecedented nature of the event.

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We thought it was just going to be a normal day, you know, like a bit of rain here and there. It came unannounced and got everyone by surprise.

The Department of Fire and Emergency Services confirmed it responded to six calls for help related to water entering properties. The storm followed a warning issued by the Bureau of Meteorology for the Collie and Harvey regions, which alerted residents to the possibility of severe thunderstorms and heavy rainfall.

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I walked out the front, and the whole road, the whole front yard, the whole backyard was about 20 centimetres underwater. The water just kept rising and rising and rising, and I thought, 'How deep is this going to go?'