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Ben McKay

Mighty storm just not cricket as energy grid damaged

The Big Bash League season opener at Optus Stadium in Perth was delayed by a massive downpour. (Richard Wainwright/AAP PHOTOS)

Wild western weather has caused hundreds of thousands of customers to lose power overnight in a monster deluge.

More than 115,000 homes or businesses were without electricity in Western Australia on Sunday due to mighty thunderstorms.

The weather also hit the Big Bash League season opener, with cricket fans forced to take shelter in the concourse as the rain bucketed down.

Optus Stadium
Cricket fans were forced to seek shelter at Optus Stadium as rain bucketed down on Perth. (Richard Wainwright/AAP PHOTOS)

Western Power said the storm was the most disruptive it had dealt with since 2010, when 160,000 customers lost power in hailstorms.

"The damaging and destructive winds associated with the storm front have thrown debris, including tree branches, into the network damaging equipment and bringing down powerlines," a spokeswoman said.

"Yesterday’s storm damage was significant and widespread across the WA main electricity network including Perth Metro, Mid West and Wheatbelt.

"Suburbs most impacted in the metro currently include Beckenham, Bayswater and Queens Park/Cannington."

Geraldton was particularly hard hit with 23,000 customers struck by outages.

Rain
Along with heavy rain, the storm brought winds that damaged equipment and brought down power lines. (Richard Wainwright/AAP PHOTOS)

As of 2pm on Monday, 20,000 customers across the state remain off the grid in 100 separate outages.

This includes pockets in various parts of Perth and larger areas with less dense homes across the region.

Western Power has cancelled planned works to focus on the fix-up jobs and is working with Telstra to deploy generators to ensure telecommunications services stay online.

Perth sweltered through a brutal Sunday, with temperatures hitting 40C, and winds of 100km an hour lashing Perth Airport before the storms.

The bureau of meteorology forecasts that severe thunderstorms are "possible" for inland southwest WA on Monday.

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