Kalbarri destruction from Cyclone Seroja could take two years to rebuild as residents count cost



Cyclone victims could be left homeless and facing a two-year wait to rebuild amid labour and materials shortages in Australia as they deal with the aftermath of Tropical Cyclone Seroja.
Key points:
WA's peak construction body is warning of lengthy rebuilding delays
It's due to high demand for trades and global supply disruptions 
Residents are unsure where they will live while they pick up the pieces

Residents are continuing to count the cost of the devastation three days after the category three system tore a path of destruction through towns in Western Australia's Mid West.
The popular holiday town of Kalbarri, on the coast about 700 kilometres north of Perth, along with Northampton just to its south-east, were decimated when the rare weather system battered the towns on Sunday night.
As the mammoth clean-up effort continued, the peak body representing WA's construction industry warned it may be two years before cyclone-affected areas were rebuilt.


The Railway Tavern in Northhampton, which dates back to 1876, was significantly damaged.(
ABC Mid-West And Wheatbelt: Chris Lewis
)
Master Builders WA executive director John Gelavis said new projects across the state were already experiencing delays of several months, due to a spike in demand fuelled by post-pandemic government stimulus.
Disruptions to global trade during the pandemic have also created supply shortages in building materials.

"Since the stimulus has been introduced there has really been a massive upswing, and that's caused some supply chain issues, particularly with some of the wet trades at the moment — concreters and bricklayers.




Residents face a two-year wait to rebuild in the wake of the cyclone.(
ABC News: Samille Mitchell
)
"What we've also seen is some of the global supply chains of materials being impacted, timber being one, [and] particle board."
About 70 per cent of Kalbarri's buildings were damaged in the cyclone as winds reached up to 170 kilometres an hour, and there is significant damage in Northampton and surrounding communities.
Mr Gelavis said new applications for work in cyclone-affected areas would be added to an already stretched workforce.



Properties in the cyclone's path were destroyed.
"I would estimate that once the clearing process goes on and the assessment and all the things that need to occur, I think it would take about two years to completely rebuild," he said.
Delay something busy farmers can't afford
Mullewa farmer Rod Messina was warned by his insurer to prepare for lengthy delays during the rebuild process.
He lost a house, 13 sheds, fences, water tanks and windmills in the cyclone.


Farmer Rod Messina says the cyclone disrupted a busy time of year when he is usually planting crops.Supplied: Rod Messina)
Although he was covered by insurance, the timeline for when his property will be repaired was less certain.
"Our insurance has said we'll have no problems settling [the claim], but the chances of getting anything done will be the biggest issue," Mr Messina said.

The cyclone has already disrupted a busy time of year when Mr Messina was planting crops.
He said the delay in getting sheds rebuilt was one he really could not afford.




Mr Messina has been warned by his insurer to prepare for lengthy delays during the rebuild process.(Supplied: Rod Messina)
"Our priority now is the 2021 crop and we need to get that in the ground," he said.
"So how we're going to do those extra things on the farm is really beyond me."
'We wouldn't be talking to you'
Kalbarri resident David Reade-Evans described the moment the roof peeled off his mother's house and glass smashed him in the chest.
"In a word, terrifying," he said.

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