It’s three years ago now but Bob and Sandra Hasleby remember it like it was yesterday. On Sunday April 11, 2021, two people were experiencing the happiest night of their lives, with all the makings of a lively wedding in Perth. While guests were cutting loose on the dancefloor, from the corner of the raucous celebration, Bob and Sandra Hasleby were waiting to hear how much of their hometown was being destroyed.

Cyclone Seroja damaged 875 buildings – mostly in Kalbarri, Northampton and neighbouring communities – causing over $200 million in damages.

“There were some reports of what was happening in a few places coming through,” says Sandra.

“And then of course all communication kind of stopped.”

Now living in Perth Bob and Sandra sit at their county-style dining table, in their sleek white kitchen. Natural light pours in from the floor-to-ceiling windows. The high ceiling causes their voices to echo giving the conversation the reverence of a church, as they recount the first few days after Cyclone Seroja detonated their lives.

Road closures forced the Hasleby’s to wait an agonising two days before they could drive to Northampton to see the carnage for themselves.

“The first thing that was scary, but eye opening, was dead birds that were lying around the place,” he says.

“I mean obviously all the trees and the tin everywhere, but the fact that there were dead birds told you how was serious it must have been at the time.”

They found the family farm in chaos: many of the sheds had sheets of tin ripped from the studs, trees were flattened, debris was scattered over the property. Parts of their houses roof had blown off completely.

“At that point we didn’t really know how bad it was and then we walked into the house and there was still water lying all over the floors and obviously the ceiling down, holes in the roof and the ceilings, walls stained with mud and dirt… just dirt and crap everywhere,” says Sandra.

“And initially you just laughed because it was just like, ‘Oh my goodness, look at this and look at that,’” she says.

“But then once reality set in we were trying to find a dry bed to sleep in for the night.”

Bob and Sandra spent a week cleaning their house, scrubbing walls and floors, drying furniture, before moving onto the monumental task of clearing paddocks, so they could be cropped. They recount how difficult it was trying to get builders and insurance representatives out to assess the damage, to begin rebuilding.

Parts of the local area didn’t have their power restored for 6 weeks. Three years on, there are still people struggling to finish rebuilding their homes.

The Hasleby’s story is far from isolated. Rising global temperatures puts Australia at a greater risk of fires, flooding and extreme storm events. A report from KPMG estimates that 70 per cent of Australians have been impacted by natural disasters in recent years.

So, who is doing what?

In late February 2024 $2.5 million of funding was allocated to 15 initiatives in Western Australia aimed at lowering the ‘risk and impact’ of natural disasters, as part of the National Disaster Risk Reduction (NDRR) Grant Program.

The recipient projects include research to understand who is most affected, and how we can adapt communities to withstand these events, as well as resource-driven campaigns to better prepare communities and improve their ability to act and respond to natural disasters.

The Shire of Mundaring received $10,000 to produce 10 videos as part of the ProPer Prep: PROperty and PERsonal PREParedness campaign. The short videos will provide education on bushfire mitigation, environmental considerations and personal wellbeing.

Mundaring Shire President Paige McNeil says that because the majority of the Shire of Mundaring is in a bushfire prone area the campaign is aimed at the community to build resilience and increase bushfire awareness.

She says the Wooroloo Bushfire on February 1, 2021, was the most recent major bushfire in the area, destroying 86 residential houses and leaving 230 people in need of emergency accommodation.

McNeil says it had a significant impact on the community and required extensive recovery across the built and natural environment, local economy and social wellbeing of Mundaring residents.

“Resources are needed to educate the community on bushfire risks and help people mitigate the bushfire risk on their property,” she says.

Increasing intensity

Executive Officer for the Goldfields Voluntary Regional Organisation of Councils (GVROC) Andrew Mann has seen the impact of natural disasters on an even larger scale.

GVROC consists of nine Local Government Areas (LGAs) in the Goldfields region, covering nearly a third of Western Australia.

Mann says: “It’s happening more often. We’re finding more in terms of those flooding events, but drought is a huge issue as well across the region. And with the nine local governments, it’s a huge area… and it’s quite diverse.”

He says the $235,000 they received from the February grants will be used to continue a State Government funded trial to investigate how regional LGAs can work collaboratively to address the impacts of climate change. The focus is not only understanding what resources are needed to prepare small towns for catastrophic events, but how to better build infrastructure to survive natural disasters.

When roads get washed away should they be replaced with the same kind of road, or something that might be more resilient next time something extreme happens. The group is looking into the feasibility of various options for situations like this.

Mann says the damage from extreme weather has astronomical economic impacts, both locally and nationally. It’s not just the financial cost of rebuilding, but the impact of highway or railway closures. With a state that relies on freight from West to East, closures force mine sites to stand still. 

“These events are happening now and are increasingly happening, so we need to get better at making sure that our assets can withstand those.”

“Despite national and global efforts to reduce carbon emissions, natural disasters will continue to plague Australia due to the ongoing effects of climate change.”

Andrew Mann

“I don’t think they’re going to be stopping any time soon, we are cognizant of that.”

Three years on from Cyclone Seroja, the Department of Fire and Emergency Services WA has closed the Recovery Facebook group, signalling the end of government assistance for the victims.

Though Kalbarri and Northampton are mostly rebuilt, the psychological trauma and emotional toll is still rampant among locals. The Haslebys’ recognise that they are just two of many people in Western Australia affected by catastrophic events every year.

“Cyclones happen all the time, storms happen all the time. It’s the actual stress that we went through trying to get repairs that just absolutely did your head in.”

Bob Hasleby

“And looking back now, you just think ‘What a horrendous period of time that was in your life’, says Sandra. “And I’m actually quite surprised that everyone made it through the other side in some way or form.”

 Bob interjects, “I think people are still scarred.”

Sandra says, “definitely still scarred, but everyone is still alive.”