Latest news with #BremerBay
ABC News
2 days ago
- Climate
- ABC News
WA's Stirling Range National Park enjoys three days of snow in just over a week
For West Australians who love chasing snow, there have been three opportunities in eight days to frolic in the white stuff at Bluff Knoll in Stirling Range National Park. Matilda Reddington made the challenging walk to the top of the peak with her sisters before school on Monday. "We woke up at 3am and left Bremer [Bay] and probably started the walk about 5 [am]," she said. It was her third hike to the top of Bluff Knoll in the snow. The most snow flurries ever recorded in WA in a single year was six in 2016, all on Bluff Knoll. There were five at the peak in 2021, and five in 1968 at different locations across the state. There were also reports of snow on Bluff Knoll on Monday and Thursday of last week. The chance to play in the snow at the top normally requires a pre-dawn hike before it melts, but last Thursday's conditions brought afternoon flurries. It also led to snow at Mt Toolbrunup, which at about 1,050 metres is the second-highest peak in the Stirling Ranges. Despite being only 50 metres lower than Bluff Knoll, snow is much less common on Mt Toolbrunup. Justin Taylor and a friend had planned to do the hike to the Mt Toolbrunup peak on Thursday anyway, and the snow was bonus. "It's fantastic." The Bureau of Meteorology (BoM) does not have monitors at either site, but relies on reports from the hikers who make the trek. The last report to the BOM of snow at Mt Toolbrunup was in September 2017. No snow is forecast for Stirling Range National Park in the coming days, and warmer temperatures are expected. Last Thursday Katanning, about 125 kilometres south-east of Mt Toolbrunup, had its coldest day since records began there 27 years ago, according to the BOM. The temperature reached a maximum of just 8.5 degrees Celsius, breaking the previous record from 2017 of 8.6C. There was also hail on Thursday in parts of the state's South West. Some Margaret River locals took the opportunity to make hail men, a different take on the snowmen being attempted on Bluff Knoll. Perth recorded its coldest minimum in 15 years last Friday, when temperatures plummeted to 0.3C at about 7am. A new July minimum temperature record of 0.4C was also set in Windy Harbour that day, while Bridgetown recorded -1.5C and Collie -2.0C.
ABC News
11-06-2025
- Climate
- ABC News
Rescues at Mt Hotham after snow strands holiday-makers
On today's show: A cold snap has hit the Victorian Alpine region and the Central Table lands of New South Wales bringing with it snow. Emergency crews are on call to rescue anyone stuck in the freezing conditions after heavy snow hit the area over the weekend. The conditions proved tough for rescuers who pulled 13 people out of the snow - who were trapped in their cars - near Dargo High Plains Road at Mount Hotham in the Victorian Alpine region. Reporter: Ashlee Aldridge (Wodonga) A popular tourist town in Western Australia's south says visitors are likely to face increased costs, due to power shortages. Bremer Bay business owners say buying expensive diesel generators appears to be the only option available to avoid blackouts, as rolling outages plague the tourist town. Reporter: Andrew Chounding (Albany) Queensland's tropical island resorts were once the playgrounds of the rich and famous, but now, many are falling into ruin. The State Government is moving to take back control from owners who have neglected the valuable tourism assets. Reporter: Kristy Sexton-McGrath (Cairns) Farmers across southern Australia are counting the cost to their mental health as one of the worst droughts in living memory persists. With parts of South Australia, Victoria and New South Wales experiencing record-dry conditions over the past year or more, the battle to keep livestock alive and grow crops without decent rain has taken its toll on farmers and their families. Advocates say while some regions are finally starting to see some rain in winter, mental health in the farming community could take years to recover. Reporter: Selina Green (Mount Gambier) A resident near Kempsey discovered 30 snakes in the shed and a large number of spiders when she returned home after flooding. Mould is another issue facing flood-affected residents, who are encouraged to ventilate their homes as much as possible. The NSW Reconstruction Authority is working to help about 150 households still in emergency accommodation return home. Reporter: Emma Siossian (Port Macquarie)
ABC News
09-06-2025
- Business
- ABC News
Western Power tells Bremer Bay hotel to 'buy generator' for blackouts
A regional business owner says she has been advised to purchase a diesel generator by Western Australia's state-run power provider if she wants a guaranteed electricity supply to her hotel. Bremer Bay, 500 kilometres south of Perth, has a population of about 571, rising steeply on weekends and holiday periods as tourists flock to the pristine coastline. Businesses and residents said power supply to the town, which sits at the edge of the state's largest energy network, the South West Interconnected System (SWIS), has not kept pace with the growing population. Over the Easter and Anzac Day holiday period, residents were hit with half a dozen power outages over 10 days. For 22 years Melissa Joy has owned the Bremer Bay Resort, a pub, restaurant and motel that can serve up to 450 guests at any one time. "Over the years, there have been lots of power issues, but in recent months we've noticed it growing increasingly worse, which is quite alarming," she said. "We have outages quite regularly and quite often, anywhere from a 10-second outage to one hour or even more on a regular basis. "It seems to be worse when we have high numbers coming to town." Western Power blamed the outages on severe weather and "atypical" demand. But with tourism increasingly critical to the town's economy, Ms Joy said outages during peak periods were not acceptable. "It has a huge impact, it's highly disruptive and really quite unacceptable." When the issue was raised with Western Power, Ms Joy said she was advised to purchase a generator for the business at her own cost. "The electricity bills to run this business are over $65,000 a year," she said. Western Power did not respond to claims that it had advised businesses in the region to purchase diesel generators. In a statement, the power utility said it understood the frustrations that unplanned power outages caused residents, and acknowledged the community was prone to more blackouts. It said "some back-up power supply" was in place to support the community, but faults that occurred within the Bremer town site could limit its utility. The situation highlights the complexity WA's legislated power monopoly leaves some regional customers facing. Western Power, a statutory corporation, is responsible for the construction and maintenance of the SWIS. But Synergy is responsible for the generation and sales of power to customers connected to the network. Business owners said the backup wind-diesel power station, owned and operated by Synergy, was inadequate to service Bremer Bay and nearby settlements. Bremer Bay General Store manager Danielle Formica said the business had spent $30,000 on a new generator to keep the shop running. "It's probably the worst year we've had over the years; there were three occasions over the course of four days where we had to run solely on cash," she said. "The locals are a population of about 300–400, but the majority [of people in town during peak season] are 15 to 20,000-plus tourists. "We're not just going to give an IOU, so we lost thousands here at the store." A Synergy spokesperson said it did not manage the Bremer Bay power supply network, but its wind-diesel plant had the capacity to provide 40 per cent of Bremer Bay's energy requirements. It also said four Synergy-owned back-up diesel generators were available to Western Power when managing network outages in the region. However, the patchwork of backup energy infrastructure has infuriated residents who are also being forced to find backup options to power essential appliances. Paul Taylor bought a house at Bremer Bay with the aim of retiring on the south coast. But the 66-year-old, diagnosed with neuropathy of the diaphragm, requires a CPAP machine to help him sleep. "My diaphragm doesn't work, and when I lie down to go to sleep, my diaphragm falls against my lungs, and it makes it very difficult for me to breathe, so my doctors have put me on a CPAP machine so I can sleep at night. "I'm looking at options, having to buy a generator or a CPAP machine that has its own battery system if there is a power failure, but these things are like $10,000, so it's not a good option." Western Power said it was exploring solutions to improve reliability.
