Aerial photographs show Exmouth flooding after almost a year’s worth of rain in a night

Aerial photographs have shown the huge extent of the flooding caused by torrential rain in Exmouth.

The holiday town was waterlogged after a downpour which saw almost a year’s worth of rain fall overnight.

Minilya-Exmouth Road — the only road in and out of the townsite — became close to being inaccessible overnight due to the water and debris after 173mm of rain was dumped onto the red dirt.

The majority of the rain fell during a heavy downpour in the early hours of Thursday morning, according to meteorologist Bob Tarr.

Pictures taken by locals show trees poking out above the floodwaters, cars half-swallowed by dirty water and homes which appeared only inches from being destroyed.

Some locals reported falls of up to 215mm in their own backyard rain gauges, while the roads were so flooded that On Strike Charters captain Josh Bruynzeel was able to take his boat out on the streets.

“Last week was the first time I had the chance to launch it,” he said.

“But it was more of a spectacle for the kids.”

The amount we see in a whole year, we had in one night

Mr Bruynzeel said the flood caused road closures north and south of town and two of his vehicles had been submerged.

“One we’ve managed to salvage, the other one seems like it’s going to be a loss,” he said.

Exmouth’s whale shark tour industry ground to a halt on Thursday while homes in town had water seeping into through doors.

Photographer Violet Brosig said, while there had been widespread damage, the stoic Exmouth community was able to see a silver lining.

“The locals are really happy to see that amount of rain... the amount we see in a whole year, we had in one night,” she said.

“The community garden, the plants are looking really great, the bananas are starting to shoot, we love it.

“Our wild flowers after this week of rain and humidity, they’re starting to pop up early and it’s fantastic for us.”

Holidaymakers heading to the region for winter have been urged to “exercise extreme caution” when driving in the area.

The Department of Fire and Emergency Services received no distress callouts during the downpour.

Meanwhile, Perth received 12.6mm of rain in the 24 hours to 7.30am and was blasted by wind gusts of up to 44kmh as a front passed over just after midnight.

Rottnest Island copped the worst of the wind, recording gusts up to 89km/h, followed by Colpoys Point, near Garden Island, with 76kmh and then Bickley with 72kmh.

Jandakot was Perth’s wettest region with 22.6mm.