Possible tornado uproots trees, damages homes across Perth

2 days ago 10

Trees were ripped from the ground and flash flooding wreaked havoc overnight as a severe weather system tore through Perth.

The Bureau of Meteorology has not yet confirmed the cause of the weather event, but video footage appears to show a tornado, which formed off the coast late on Wednesday afternoon.

A home in City Beach, along Kalari Drive, where the roof has been severely damaged.

City Beach was one of the worst impacted areas, with 9 News Perth reporting a multimillion-dollar home had its roof completely ripped off while another’s garage was caved in.

Zarin Milambo, a resident in the area, said she came outside and saw the damage and “pieces of the roof on the floor”.

“All our fences are down so it was pretty scary,” she said.

The unconfirmed ‘tornado’ off the City Beach coast.

“It’s pretty disappointing, we’ve just gone through a lot and we just know it’s going to be months and months of repairs.”

Senior Meteorologist Miriam Bradbury said video footage taken by the community showed a “funnel-like cloud” but that whether it was a tornado or simply a water spout, or just a different cloud formation remained to be seen.

“We’ll need to take a closer look at it today and assess the damage in particular because tornadoes do leave very particular patterns in their damage,” she said.

“What’s worth remembering here is that thunderstorms, even non-severe thunderstorms that don’t produce tornadoes, do have the capacity to bring really gusty, erratic winds that can bring damage.”

Bradbury said there had been heavy rainfall associated with this front as it moved through the Perth metropolitan area, including 71 millimetres in South Perth until 6am this morning.

“We’re heading for a top of 14 degrees or so in the Perth area, but combining with those cool southerly winds behind the front, ongoing showers and the chance of small hail, it is likely to feel quite a few degrees lower than that forecast top,” she said.

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