Up to 95 per cent of the buildings damaged by cyclone Seroja have been fixed four years on according to the Shire of Northampton president, but construction of an emergency evacuation centre in Kalbarri was still a priority.
April 11 marked four years since the devastating category three cyclone made landfall, ripping through the Mid West, causing the most carnage in Kalbarri and Northampton.
The damage bill was in excess of $400 million, but four years later, for the majority life had returned to a sense of normality.
Shire president Liz Sudlow said the community had shown great resilience.
“Four years after such a catastrophic event, I think the community has responded pretty well,” she said.
“There was such devastation, I think about 70 per cent of the buildings (were impacted), so that was always going to be difficult.
“There are definitely still some tarpaulins on rooves, there’s a couple of heritage buildings in Northampton that still have some significant work to be done.”
Ms Sudlow estimated about 90 to 95 per cent of the buildings had been fixed up. However, yet to have works begin was the Kalbarri emergency evacuation centre.
The shire had hoped to convert the PCYC building into a multipurpose facility, but community input meant new plans were drawn up to have a standalone building next to it.
Applications for disaster recovery funding for the project had been made previously and were unsuccessful.
Ms Sudlow said it was disappointing the project, believed to cost about $6m, was unsuccessful in getting funding, but the shire had made moves to try to secure funding in the future.
“In order to make our application process a bit more robust, we will need to have a better business case,” she said.
“We can reapply for the disaster funding, and then there’s possibly other grants we could apply for.”
