#western-australia

#western-australia

A 13-year-old boy has saved his mother and two younger siblings by swimming for four hours in fading light and rough conditions, after they were swept out to sea in south-west Western Australia. The family were holidaying in Quindalup, 200km south of Perth, when strong winds pushed their inflatable paddleboards and kayak offshore from Geographe Bay on Friday afternoon. The boy attempted to kayak back to shore to get help, but the vessel took on water, forcing him to swim 4km back to shore, where he successfully raised the alarm.

After a recent heatwave affected large parts of Australia before Christmas, Cyclone Hayley made landfall along the north-west coast on Tuesday night. Hayley formed on 28 December in the southern Indian Ocean and steadily intensified on a path south towards the north coast of Western Australia. The system became a category 2 storm at its peak on Wednesday with sustained winds of 105mph.