Perth storm battering: Heavy rain, strong winds cause chaos across city

Trees were ripped from the ground and thousands of homes were without power tonight as wild weather swept across Perth.

Wind gusts of up to 96km/h hit Melville and Rottnest was battered by 98km/h winds.

Several powerlines were down across Perth, with Western Power saying at least half a dozen were damaged by fallen trees.

Firefighters were called to a fallen power line that was reported sparking on the road along Grand Promenade in Bedford at about 8.45pm, while Carousel shopping centre in Cannington lost power about 7pm.

Pictures show emergency lights being activated to guide drivers out of the underground carpark.

Emergency services are bracing for more damage on Wednesday, with a severe weather warning in issued last night or a huge stretch of the State from Kalbarri to Albany.

Wind gusts of up to 125km/h are expected to hit Perth overnight.

SES crews have been busy with 113 calls for help made before 10pm.

Most were for downed trees and damaged roofs as the “twice-a-year” storm passed through.

Stirling, Wanneroo and Joondalup were the hardest hit in metro area, while Australind and Morawa had suffered the most damage in regional WA.

A spokesperson for the Bureau of Meteorology said the full impact of the “unusual deep low pressure system” hit the Perth area about 8pm.

“We should see about 40-45mm of rainfall from the storm,” they said.

This month the State has received a total of 35mm of rain — surpassing the average rainfall amount for October with two weeks still remaining. WA is on track to break the record for the wettest October on record, which was 96mm of rainfall in 1999.

This comes after the city fell just short of breaking its all time record for rainfall in July, when the total of 271.4mm fell 7.2mm short of the July 1995 record.

Conditions are expected to ease on Wednesday.