Shire of Wiluna facing “years” of repairs to flood-damaged roads, calls for disaster assistance

The Shire of Wiluna is facing years of repairs to flood-damaged roads and has pleaded to the State Government for disaster assistance funding.

Photos from the impact zone show large areas of flooding and unsealed roads resembling hardcore four-wheel-drive tracks after ex-tropical cyclone Blake inundated parts of the WA outback in mid-January.

Granite Peak Station recorded about 150mm of rain over 15 hours on January 9 and 10.

Carnegie Station, further east, received more than 300mm over three days.

The Shire is now urging the State Government to declare a natural disaster in the region.

Shire president Jim Quadrio said while good for pastoralists affected by one of the worst droughts on record, the flooding had left stations isolated and caused severe damage to roads.

“From a Shire perspective, potentially there is probably 600km of road that could have been affected,” he said.

“From our turn-off going to Glen Ayle (Station) — in just the first 40km that we have been able to get across, there was damage probably worth millions of dollars.”

Mr Quadrio said road damage by storms in early 2017 took two years to fix at a cost of more than $10 million.

He said he expected damage from the recent flooding to be more extensive.

The Shire is collecting data on the number of people trapped on stations by floodwaters, and the adequacy of their supplies of food, fuel and medicines for the Department of Fire and Emergency Service, responsible for the State’s natural disaster response.

DFES did not respond by time of print.