Kalgoorlie faces a week without electricity amid heatwave due to WA power outages

Businesses close, and water supply, internet and fuel affected as outback town swelters in temperatures forecast to hit 40C

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Residents in Australia’s largest outback town, Kalgoorlie, are facing up to a week without power while sweltering through a major heatwave that has forced the closure of businesses and medical centres.

More than 20,000 homes and businesses began to face blackouts in Western Australia’s Wheatbelt, Goldfields and Great Southern regions on Wednesday following severe storms and bushfires, including “most homes and businesses” in Kalgoorlie, according to WA police.

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