'Natural Disaster' declared as Perth counts the cost of the storm.
Dozens of SES volunteers continue to work night and day to help residents secure their homes and property following the unprecedented storm event that hit Perth last Monday afternoon.
Thousands of homes and buildings and thousands more vehicles, were damaged when hail the size of golf balls fell as a sudden storm that swept across the Perth metropolitan area. The rain that followed caused significant flash flooding, knocking out dozens of sets of traffic lights, and flooding roads, car-parks and properties.
Premier Colin Barnett has confirmed that the storm has qualified as a natural disaster, and has predicted the damage bill will run into the hundreds of millions of dollars.
The FESA State Emergency Service received about 2,000 calls for help as water inundated homes and trees and power lines came down on property. Around 200 SES volunteers along with fire crews worked through the night on Monday.
More than 100 people had to be evacuated from an apartment block on Mounts Bay Road near King''s Park after the storm caused a massive landslide. Twenty people had to be evacuated from the emergency department at Joondalup Hospital after parts of the ceiling caved in. Lightning also knocked out a few of Western Power's causing blackouts to more than 150,000 properties.
The storm's trail of destruction extended from Joondalup to Mandurah, with the most significant damage being caused to the Western Suburbs area.
Nick Elliott, Deputy Local Manager of the Northshore SES unit confirmed that the area had been badly hit. "The Northshore SES unit covers Perth, Nedlands, Claremont, Cottesloe, Peppermint Grove, Mosman Park, Subiaco, Cambridge and Vincent. I understand that so far we have received approximately 800 calls for assistance within our area alone. We have had our rescue teams' working day and night to try to reduce the backlog of calls".
The Bureau of Meteorology recorded that 48 millimetres of rain fell at Swanbourne during the 30 - 40 minute storm event, ending one of the Perth's longest dry spells.
The city was brought to a standstill, rail services were halted, and at one stage all out-bound flights from Perth Airport were stopped when part of the ceiling collapsed under the weight of the deluge.
Andrew Burton, from the Bureau of Meteorology, said it was one of the biggest storms to hit Perth in years, with wind gusts of up to 120 kilometres an hour.
Relief from Interstate is expected to arrive this morning, with additional SES volunteers flying in to assist their WA counterparts.
