Water shortages and power blackouts are hampering clean-up efforts in the small Western Australian coastal town of Carnarvon, which has been battered by Tropical Cyclone Olwyn.

The cyclone carved a path of destruction through Carnarvon, about 900 kilometres north of Perth, with homes damaged and vast swathes of fruit crops destroyed in strong winds.

Olwyn was a severe category three cyclone at its peak when it hit the towns of Exmouth, Coral Bay and Carnarvon on Friday.

The system was downgraded to a tropical low on Saturday morning.

Carnarvon Shire president Karl Brandenburg told the ABC that the town of about 9,000 people, including surrounding areas, was struggling badly.

“We’re critical at the moment with no power and water,” he said.

“You can imagine hospitals, airports, sewerage, even getting the debris off the roads so we can get the emergency crews around.”

He said homes were badly damaged and there was flooding in the streets.

The winds were strong enough to lift this plane onto a roof. Photo: ABC

“There’s tree debris everywhere, there’s sheets of iron, roller doors, signs in the street,” he said.

“Huge trees have been uprooted, roller doors have been caved in, roof sheeting is missing everywhere.

“A couple of houses are severely damaged, I’d envisage they’re just about a write-off.”

Mr Brandenburg said the storm was worse than he had anticipated and he likened the sound of the wind to the noise of a jet engine roaring.

“The rain was horizontal, I watched one of my trees disappear in the backyard,” he said.

“I watched poles start to fall over down the street in front of my house and just trees everywhere.”

He said the cyclone was particularly damaging for local horticulturalists, who contribute tens of millions of dollars to the WA economy every year.

“All the bananas, I’ve been told, have pretty much been decimated, and now we’re even struggling for water,” he said.

“Because there’s no power, there’s no pumps so we can’t pump any water, so the tanks are running out fast.

“We’re just at the start of a good season with a good river and now the plantations have been absolutely flattened.

“Not only are the crops all destroyed, the sheds are missing as well, and canopies they have for bird and wind breaks for their crops are all shredded.”

Horizon Power spokeswoman Tracy Armson said restoring electricity to pump fresh water supplies in Carnarvon was a priority but the damage to distribution lines was extensive.

“We will be giving priority to places like the water pumping area,” Ms Armson said.

“So, we’ve got additional crews coming into Carnarvon this morning and we’ve got crews already working. I can’t tell you exactly when power will be restored because the damage is quite extensive.

“The power station itself is fine. It’s back up and running. But we’re talking about poles and wires being down, so the actual distribution lines that take the electricity from high voltage into people’s homes and properties, that’s what’s been damaged.

“We’ll be working as hard as we can and ensuring fresh water is a key priority.”

The Department of Fire and Emergency Services have advised people to use water sparingly.

They were installing generators in borefields, and expected water supply to be reinstated sometime Saturday.

The local Learmonth Airport was closed on Saturday, but expected to reopen Sunday.

Carnarvon is famous for its bananas, but whole crops have been ruined. Photo: ABC

Cyclone latest in string of natural disasters to hit town

The cyclone follows a number of natural disasters that have wreaked havoc on Carnarvon in recent years, including a devastating flood in December 2010 and January 2011 that caused $90 million damage.

“Before the 2010-2011 floods, they’d just gone through a huge drought,” Mr Brandenburg said.

“Then there was a locust plague and then we had bushfires in 2012 so lots of crops were damaged.

“It’s just been one after the other, now we’ve got the cyclone on top.

“It’s a real struggle out there for the growers at this point in time, the last four to five years have been pretty horrendous.”

The impact of Cyclone Olwyn comes just days after growers celebrated the arrival of a historic river flow, following more than 12 months of drought.

“The rains came and it was all great and now all of a sudden we’ve got this massive wind and there isn’t a banana tree standing,” Mr Brandenburg said.

More than 3,500 homes in Carnarvon lost power on Friday night, and another 1,700 homes in Exmouth were blacked out.

Sections of the North West Coastal Highway were closed due to the weather system.

Geraldton has experienced heavy rains and strong winds.

The Bureau of Meteorology was predicting a 60 per cent chance of rain in Perth on Saturday, becoming less likely in the afternoon.

A severe weather warning remained current for parts of the South West and Gascoyne on Saturday.