Perth's eight-hour storm brings $125m cost

PERTH - 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.

Widespread power cuts, flash flooding, rock-sized hailstones and high winds took their toll.

Premier Colin Barnett estimated the total damage bill would be well over A$100 million ($125.71 million).

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.

More than 150,000 consumers lost power as lightning and hail hammered the electricity network. By last night, Western Power said those without power were down to 64,000.

The State Emergency Service received more than 1400 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 yesterday. Volunteers from elsewhere in WA have been called in to assist.

Nearly 70 people were evacuated from an apartment building near King's Park in central Perth after a landslip pushed sand into two ground floor units and almost buried two vehicles parked outside.

Jenny McManus, 23, from Ireland said: "The night was just insane, you had to scream just to hear yourself. It just got worse and worse."

Seven schools in the city were closed yesterday 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.

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.

The storm has been called the biggest one to hit Perth since 1994. The Meteorological Service recorded wind gusts of more than 120 km/h and 35mm of rain within about eight hours yesterday.

- AAP