Perth left reeling from thunderstorms' fury

PERTH - Severe winds and torrential rain have ripped through the southwest of Western Australia, blocking roads, damaging buildings, felling trees, bringing down power lines and closing schools.

Hundreds of State Emergency Service volunteers were called to incidents across Perth and further south.

The town of Bunbury, 180km south of Perth, appears to have been the worst affected by the line of severe thunderstorms yesterday.

Staff at the town's ABC radio station were lucky to escape with their lives after a 38m crane collapsed on their building.

Some schools in the town were forced to close, the roof of the town's cathedral was damaged and numerous businesses and homes also lost roofs.

At the ABC station, journalist Alisha O'Flaherty said she had stepped out of her office and was walking towards a printer as she prepared her 6.30am bulletin when the crane collapsed, crushing the newsroom.

"I heard a sound like a train coming towards me and basically this enormous crash behind me, and the whole office was destroyed," said Ms O'Flaherty.

"I was shocked for a second, and then we all gathered together and left the building because we didn't think it was stable."

Bicton, 15km south of Perth, was also battered, and the suburb's primary school was badly affected.

State Emergency Service spokeswoman Nita Gill said there had been calls to 500 incidents across the city, and 150 volunteers had been asked to help.

The main problems were fallen power lines, trees across roads and on roofs, and collapsed ceilings. A further 150 SES volunteers had been called out in the southwest region, Ms Gill said.

In Perth, traffic was backed up by flooding and debris on roads, blacked out traffic lights and a crane in danger of toppling on to a highway.

Main Roads WA traffic operations centre engineer Bob Manhood said the Canning Highway was closed south of Canning Bridge as authorities dealt with the crane, which threatened to topple from a hotel redevelopment site.

A police spokesman said there had been numerous serious crashes.

Wind gusts peaked at 142km/h at Rottnest Island, just off Perth, and reached 100km/h in the city's suburbs, meteorologists said.

Hundreds of schoolchildren were handed an unexpected day off by the wild weather. Bunbury Senior High School, Roleystone Primary School and Shelley Primary School were all closed.

The education department said it was working on contingency plans for schools unable to open today, and would issue updates.

- AAP