Clean-up in Perth after major storm

A major clean-up is under way after Perth took a battering from the biggest storm to
hit the city in many years.
After enduring hardly a drop of rain all summer, residents of the West Australian
capital were hit by a deluge on Monday evening.
The freak storm left a trail of destruction and widespread power cuts across the
city as flash flooding, golf ball-sized hailstones and high winds took their toll.
Premier Colin Barnett has declared the drought-breaking storm a natural disaster,
freeing up assistance funding, and says the total damage bill will be well over $100
million.
"This was a very unusual weather event, almost a tropical storm."
Mr Barnett said "it wasn't a great tragedy" as experienced by so many overseas "so
let's keep it in proportion".
"Most of the damage is not total destruction of homes."
Despite the wild weather and hazardous driving conditions, there were no reports of
serious injuries.
But the insurance industry will be tapped for big payouts as owners claim on
hundreds of hail-battered cars with smashed windscreens and dented panels.
About 160,000 consumers lost power on Monday night as lightning and hail hammered
the electricity network.
By Tuesday afternoon, Western Power said those without power were down to 64,000 but
some might not have electricity for days to come.
Under clear skies, the clean-up of felled trees and powerlines was underway on
Tuesday along the leaf-strewn streets of the city.
The 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.
Nearly 70 people were evacuated from an apartment building near King's Park in
central Perth on Monday night after a landslip pushed sand into two ground floor
units and almost buried two vehicles parked outside.
Jenny McManus, 23, from Ireland, was one of the residents evacuated to spend the
night at the Perth Convention Centre.
"The night was just insane, you had to scream just to hear yourself. It just got
worse and worse," she said.
Ms McManus had been talking to her mother in Ireland by phone before the storm struck.
"I was bragging to her that I hadn't seen a drop of rain since I arrived, so I think
I jinxed myself right there."
Several schools in the city were closed on Tuesday due to storm damage including
Ocean Reef Senior High School in Perth's northwest.
Principal Greg Thorne said every classroom had damage, including wet carpets,
collapsed ceilings and ruined computers.
"At first we thought it was interesting that a bit of hail was coming through.
Pretty soon we realised the enormity of the event."
The University of Western Australia was also heavily hit by flooding and large
hailstones that smashed nearly 80-year-old stained glass windows in the elegant
Winthrop Hall.
Vice-Chancellor Alan Robson estimated the total damage bill would be in the tens of
millions of dollars from damage to lecture halls, libraries, student residences and
research glasshouses.
Stained glass for Winthrop Hall had already been ordered, he said.
"We are very keen to restore what is a landmark building in Perth to its majestic
best. Those windows have been there for nearly 80 years. This was an absolute freak
event."
Hospitals were also hard hit.
About 20 people were evacuated from the emergency room at Joondalup Hospital on
Monday night after part of the ceiling collapsed.
Sir Charles Gairdner Hospital called off outpatient and elective surgery
appointments for Tuesday due to storm damage.
The Bureau of Meteorology's regional director Mike Bergin said a severe storm
warning remained in place for most of the southwest.
"We've broken a 100-day significant drought for the metropolitan area of Perth in
rather spectacular fashion and we're going to produce record rainfall stats for
March already."