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Hygiene, asbestos warning for Carnarvon

AAP

AAP

Residents in the Western Australian coastal town of Carnarvon are still without running water two days after Tropical Cyclone Olwyn passed through the town.

Several large generators are due to arrive in Carnarvon, about 900km north of Perth, to restart water-pumping stations that stopped working when the category three system cut power to the entire Mid West town on Friday.

Residents have been relying on bottled water since then and have been warned to be cautious about hygiene.

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Department of Fire and Emergency Services spokesman Jason Dunn said people needed to take care.

Carnarvon still without running water in the wake of Cyclone Olwyn.

Power crews are working to fix dozens of poles felled during the cyclone. Photo: ABC

“Hygiene’s a problem because the water’s down, with sewer lines,” he said.

“We want to get the message out there that people need to be aware of their health.”

Mr Dunn said the damaged buildings meant asbestos was another issue.

“There’s a little bit of asbestos around town as well, so if people come across items that look like asbestos, stay away from that,” he said.

Carnarvon Shire president Karl Brandenburg said the town had four main bore water tanks, two on the outskirts of town and two inside.

“We need generators to get the pumps working out on the bore field,” Mr Brandenburg said.

“The big problem is the Water Corporation doesn’t have enough generators to get to all the pumping stations.”

However, a truckload of generators is due to arrive today.

“They’ll get towed through the mud and slush out to where the poles are laying over and there’s plans out there to connect them into the grid to power up some of the bore pumps,” he said.

“There’s repairs need doing where the pipes are damaged underground, hopefully by the end of the day 70 to 80 per cent of the town should have its water supply restored.”

Trees swaying in the cyclone cracked the pipe work, and Mr Brandenburg said three major leaks had already been found.

A large water main was also badly damaged by a fallen tree, and it took workers five hours to remove it.

Cyclone followed drought-breaking rain

Excavators will be brought in on Sunday to remove more fallen trees, mud and other debris strewn around the streets, which have hampered recovery efforts.

The cyclone, which was downgraded to a tropical low on Saturday, dissipated further as it headed towards the state’s South West.

Mr Brandenburg said roofs were ripped from buildings and the town’s banana plantations were destroyed by powerful winds.

About 50 power poles were downed and many others left on an angle in the wake of the cyclone, and hundreds of service wires to homes were also damaged.

Horizon Power said it had restored electricity to about half the town’s 3,600 customers.

Cyclone Olwyn hit just a week after the Gascoyne River began flowing for the first time in a year.

ABC

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