Neddy you ok over there mate? Or are you looking to get a hail storm damage car now? 
http://www.smh.com.au/environment/water-issues/bureau-warns-of-more-severe-storms-for-perth-20100323-qsm6.html
Bureau warns of more severe storms for Perth
March 23, 2010 - 3:11PM
Hailstones the size of golf balls rained down at the height of the storm. Photo: WAtoday reader Nicole Barber
More storms are on the way for Perth as the city barely starts to recover from the devastating lightning, flooding and hail from yesterday.
The Bureau of Meteorology says there is a risk of severe thunderstorms this afternoon and evening, with damaging winds, hail and flash flooding likely for areas south of a line between Lancelin, Cunderdin and Hopetoun.
Most damage is expected in the south-west. While the metropolitan area is also likely to be hit, the storms are not likely to be as intense as yesterday, the bureau says.
Large parts of the city are still blacked out, schools are closed, traffic lights are out and insurers face a damage bill into the hundreds of millions after a freak storm battered the city last night.
Click for more photos
Reader pics - Storm hits Perth.
About 78,000 homes remain without power this morning, after more than 150,000 houses were blacked out at the height of the storm last night.
Western Power spokeswoman Marissa Chapman said the utility had already fielded more than 75,000 calls for help.
The Insurance Council of Australia has declared the storms a "general insurance catastrophe".
Hail stones up to six centimetres in diameter were reported during the storm. Photo: Deb Pratt, Ocean Reef
Premier Colin Barnett said the storm had caused "well over $100 million damage".
He said now that the situation was under control and into the clean-up phase, patience was needed as emergency crews worked to get power restored to affected areas.
"The storm was obviously an extreme and freak event," he told radio 6PR. "All emergency services responded superbly [and] were on duty throughout the night."
He urged people to continue to behave carefully, responsibly and be very courteous throughout the day.
Mr Barnett said that since "the last major storm in 1994" about half of Perth's power lines had been put underground, which would aid the clean-up effort this time around.
Peak-hour traffic hit
The blackouts hit peak hour traffic this morning, with 66 sets of traffic lights still out across the city.
Police will be controlling traffic at major intersections affected, including parts of Albany Highway, Reid Highway, Orrong Road, Wanneroo Road, Roe Highway, Scarborough Beach Road and Leach Highway.
Drivers have also been warned to avoid Mounts Bay Road after the downpour triggered a mini-landslide from Kings Park. The road is closed from Winthrop Avenue to the city in the eastbound direction. The westbound lanes remain open.
Armadale Road is reportedly flooded near Lake Road in Seville Grove.
"We are urging people to take extra care this morning," Main Roads spokeswoman Stephanie Dahl said.
Trains and buses are now running on schedule, apart from buses having to deviate around Mounts Bay Road.
Some trains had to slow down through the Subiaco tunnel about 5.30am, due to flooding.
Public Transport Authority spokesman David Hynes said the pumps in the tunnel pumping water out broke down, as did back-ups. The PTA then had to hire pumps.
Some Smartrider ticket machines were also not working this morning, victims of the lightning strikes and subsequent power cuts.
Trail of destruction
The State Emergency Service has received more than 1400 calls for help across metropolitan Perth since yesterday afternoon, and more than 200 SES volunteers worked through the night.
Perth's northern suburbs bore the brunt of the storm, with more than 1100 calls for help there. Suburbs in the cities of Stirling, Wanneroo and Joondalup and Town of Vincent were worst hit.
South of the Swan River, suburbs in the cities of Canning, Gosnells and Melville were also badly affected.
Most calls involved water damage to houses, hail damage, damage to roofs, and fallen trees on houses, cars and fences. More than 24,000 people have joined a Facebook group set up this morning called I survived the Great Storm of Perth.
The landslide through Kings Park down to Mounts Bay Road buried and crushed two cars and flooded the Adelphi and Waldorf apartment blocks with m&d, causing 68 residents to be evacuated to the Perth Convention and Exhibition Centre overnight.
Engineers will conduct a structural assessment this morning and a decision will be made by the Fire and Emergency Services Authority's Incident Management Team if the area is safe for people to return home.
Urban search and rescue squads went through the building yesterday evening, amid fears one person was missing. However, that resident was located.
Major flooding was recorded on major roads throughout the city, including Marmion Avenue, the Mitchell Freeway, the Mt Lawley subway, Wanneroo Road and Pinjar Road.
The RAC has called on members making insurance claims to be patient.
West Australia's largest home and motor insurer said it had received more than 500 claims in the first couple of hours.
RAC spokesman Glen Walker said early indications were that the damage could rival the storm of May 2005, which was one of the worst to hit the state.
Mr Walker said homes with structural damage was a priority and the RAC was doing everything it could to help members.
Building advisory service Archicentre said water-damaged buildings could take months to dry out.
"The natural tendency for people to renovate and redecorate as quickly as possible can lead to mould growth and the work having to be repeated," state manager Brad Cook said.
Hospitals, airports hit
Homes have been destroyed, with commercial property and infrastructure also damaged after the severe hail storm and 35mm of rain hit the city about 4pm yesterday.
Two storm fronts battered the northern suburbs before heading south towards the city.
An SES spokesman urged people with damage to their homes to call the helpline 132 500 only if the damage was so great they could not fix it themselves. Calls for assistance would be placed in a queue depending on their urgency.
Western Power is urging people only to ring 13 13 51 to report dangerous situations, with the organisation inundated with calls about power outages.
Planes were stranded at both Perth airports after the deluge caused parts of the terminal roof to collapse. Perth Airport and Qantas have confirmed that international and domestic flights have returned to normal this morning.
The SES has had reports of structural damage to several major hospitals and aged care facilities, including Sir Charles Gairdner Hospital, and elective surgery has been cancelled at all hospitals today as a precaution.
Schools closed
A department of education spokeswoman said schools including Shenton College, Ocean Reef High School, Mindari Senior College, Tuart College, Tuart Hill Primary School, Heathridge Primary School, John XXIII College and years 8-10 at Perth Modern School would be closed today due to storm damage.
Eighty per cent of Shenton College classrooms were flooded and 70 per cent of Ocean Reef SHS had flooded.
"Multiple ceilings have collapsed at Ocean Reef SHS," the spokewoman said.
The library at University of Western Australia is understood to have been flooded causing hundreds of thousands of dollars damage. Windows at historic Winthrop Hall were also blown out by the storm, and the University's theatre venues suffered damaging flooding.
Weather warnings
It was one of the biggest storms in Perth for many years, with wind gusts of more than 120km/h and 40.2mm of rain falling in the Bureau of Meteorology's Mt Lawley rain gauge in the 24 hours since 9am yesterday.
Of that, 23.4mm fell in the 30 minutes after 5pm yesterday.
Other areas were even worse hit. Wanneroo received 63mm - about four times its average March rainfall - while Swanbourne got 48mm and Perth Airport 41mm, including 19.8mm in seven minutes from 5.05pm yesterday.
Earlier yesterday, FESA issued a severe storm warning for a semicircle bounded by the Midwest tourist town of Kalbarri, through the Wheatbelt towns of Mount Magnet, Merredin and Katanning, to the Peel region holiday spot of Mandurah.
Cool air in the upper atmosphere drifted over Western Australia during the end of the weekend, enhancing a surface trough that was already firing storms through the interior.
The rain has given a much needed boost to the parched state's water supplies. In the three months of summer, which ended on February 28, Perth received a meagre 0.2mm of rainfall.
Up until yesterday Perth had recorded no rainfall this month. The average rainfall for March is 21mm.
- Chloe Johnson, Daile Pepper, Tim Clarke, Roy Fleming and Chris Thomson
Source: watoday.com.au
http://www.smh.com.au/environment/water-issues/bureau-warns-of-more-severe-storms-for-perth-20100323-qsm6.html
Bureau warns of more severe storms for Perth
March 23, 2010 - 3:11PM
Hailstones the size of golf balls rained down at the height of the storm. Photo: WAtoday reader Nicole Barber
More storms are on the way for Perth as the city barely starts to recover from the devastating lightning, flooding and hail from yesterday.
The Bureau of Meteorology says there is a risk of severe thunderstorms this afternoon and evening, with damaging winds, hail and flash flooding likely for areas south of a line between Lancelin, Cunderdin and Hopetoun.
Most damage is expected in the south-west. While the metropolitan area is also likely to be hit, the storms are not likely to be as intense as yesterday, the bureau says.
Large parts of the city are still blacked out, schools are closed, traffic lights are out and insurers face a damage bill into the hundreds of millions after a freak storm battered the city last night.
Click for more photos
Reader pics - Storm hits Perth.
About 78,000 homes remain without power this morning, after more than 150,000 houses were blacked out at the height of the storm last night.
Western Power spokeswoman Marissa Chapman said the utility had already fielded more than 75,000 calls for help.
The Insurance Council of Australia has declared the storms a "general insurance catastrophe".
Hail stones up to six centimetres in diameter were reported during the storm. Photo: Deb Pratt, Ocean Reef
Premier Colin Barnett said the storm had caused "well over $100 million damage".
He said now that the situation was under control and into the clean-up phase, patience was needed as emergency crews worked to get power restored to affected areas.
"The storm was obviously an extreme and freak event," he told radio 6PR. "All emergency services responded superbly [and] were on duty throughout the night."
He urged people to continue to behave carefully, responsibly and be very courteous throughout the day.
Mr Barnett said that since "the last major storm in 1994" about half of Perth's power lines had been put underground, which would aid the clean-up effort this time around.
Peak-hour traffic hit
The blackouts hit peak hour traffic this morning, with 66 sets of traffic lights still out across the city.
Police will be controlling traffic at major intersections affected, including parts of Albany Highway, Reid Highway, Orrong Road, Wanneroo Road, Roe Highway, Scarborough Beach Road and Leach Highway.
Drivers have also been warned to avoid Mounts Bay Road after the downpour triggered a mini-landslide from Kings Park. The road is closed from Winthrop Avenue to the city in the eastbound direction. The westbound lanes remain open.
Armadale Road is reportedly flooded near Lake Road in Seville Grove.
"We are urging people to take extra care this morning," Main Roads spokeswoman Stephanie Dahl said.
Trains and buses are now running on schedule, apart from buses having to deviate around Mounts Bay Road.
Some trains had to slow down through the Subiaco tunnel about 5.30am, due to flooding.
Public Transport Authority spokesman David Hynes said the pumps in the tunnel pumping water out broke down, as did back-ups. The PTA then had to hire pumps.
Some Smartrider ticket machines were also not working this morning, victims of the lightning strikes and subsequent power cuts.
Trail of destruction
The State Emergency Service has received more than 1400 calls for help across metropolitan Perth since yesterday afternoon, and more than 200 SES volunteers worked through the night.
Perth's northern suburbs bore the brunt of the storm, with more than 1100 calls for help there. Suburbs in the cities of Stirling, Wanneroo and Joondalup and Town of Vincent were worst hit.
South of the Swan River, suburbs in the cities of Canning, Gosnells and Melville were also badly affected.
Most calls involved water damage to houses, hail damage, damage to roofs, and fallen trees on houses, cars and fences. More than 24,000 people have joined a Facebook group set up this morning called I survived the Great Storm of Perth.
The landslide through Kings Park down to Mounts Bay Road buried and crushed two cars and flooded the Adelphi and Waldorf apartment blocks with m&d, causing 68 residents to be evacuated to the Perth Convention and Exhibition Centre overnight.
Engineers will conduct a structural assessment this morning and a decision will be made by the Fire and Emergency Services Authority's Incident Management Team if the area is safe for people to return home.
Urban search and rescue squads went through the building yesterday evening, amid fears one person was missing. However, that resident was located.
Major flooding was recorded on major roads throughout the city, including Marmion Avenue, the Mitchell Freeway, the Mt Lawley subway, Wanneroo Road and Pinjar Road.
The RAC has called on members making insurance claims to be patient.
West Australia's largest home and motor insurer said it had received more than 500 claims in the first couple of hours.
RAC spokesman Glen Walker said early indications were that the damage could rival the storm of May 2005, which was one of the worst to hit the state.
Mr Walker said homes with structural damage was a priority and the RAC was doing everything it could to help members.
Building advisory service Archicentre said water-damaged buildings could take months to dry out.
"The natural tendency for people to renovate and redecorate as quickly as possible can lead to mould growth and the work having to be repeated," state manager Brad Cook said.
Hospitals, airports hit
Homes have been destroyed, with commercial property and infrastructure also damaged after the severe hail storm and 35mm of rain hit the city about 4pm yesterday.
Two storm fronts battered the northern suburbs before heading south towards the city.
An SES spokesman urged people with damage to their homes to call the helpline 132 500 only if the damage was so great they could not fix it themselves. Calls for assistance would be placed in a queue depending on their urgency.
Western Power is urging people only to ring 13 13 51 to report dangerous situations, with the organisation inundated with calls about power outages.
Planes were stranded at both Perth airports after the deluge caused parts of the terminal roof to collapse. Perth Airport and Qantas have confirmed that international and domestic flights have returned to normal this morning.
The SES has had reports of structural damage to several major hospitals and aged care facilities, including Sir Charles Gairdner Hospital, and elective surgery has been cancelled at all hospitals today as a precaution.
Schools closed
A department of education spokeswoman said schools including Shenton College, Ocean Reef High School, Mindari Senior College, Tuart College, Tuart Hill Primary School, Heathridge Primary School, John XXIII College and years 8-10 at Perth Modern School would be closed today due to storm damage.
Eighty per cent of Shenton College classrooms were flooded and 70 per cent of Ocean Reef SHS had flooded.
"Multiple ceilings have collapsed at Ocean Reef SHS," the spokewoman said.
The library at University of Western Australia is understood to have been flooded causing hundreds of thousands of dollars damage. Windows at historic Winthrop Hall were also blown out by the storm, and the University's theatre venues suffered damaging flooding.
Weather warnings
It was one of the biggest storms in Perth for many years, with wind gusts of more than 120km/h and 40.2mm of rain falling in the Bureau of Meteorology's Mt Lawley rain gauge in the 24 hours since 9am yesterday.
Of that, 23.4mm fell in the 30 minutes after 5pm yesterday.
Other areas were even worse hit. Wanneroo received 63mm - about four times its average March rainfall - while Swanbourne got 48mm and Perth Airport 41mm, including 19.8mm in seven minutes from 5.05pm yesterday.
Earlier yesterday, FESA issued a severe storm warning for a semicircle bounded by the Midwest tourist town of Kalbarri, through the Wheatbelt towns of Mount Magnet, Merredin and Katanning, to the Peel region holiday spot of Mandurah.
Cool air in the upper atmosphere drifted over Western Australia during the end of the weekend, enhancing a surface trough that was already firing storms through the interior.
The rain has given a much needed boost to the parched state's water supplies. In the three months of summer, which ended on February 28, Perth received a meagre 0.2mm of rainfall.
Up until yesterday Perth had recorded no rainfall this month. The average rainfall for March is 21mm.
- Chloe Johnson, Daile Pepper, Tim Clarke, Roy Fleming and Chris Thomson
Source: watoday.com.au
