PARTS of Midland, Swan View, Ellenbrook, Midvale, Gooseberry Hill, Bellevue, Kalamunda, Maida Vale and surrounding areas were thrown into chaos during last Thursday afternoon’s severe thunderstorm.

The storm damaged network infrastructure affecting power supply to around 11,400 homes and businesses, with reports of flash flooding, fallen trees and inoperative traffic lights causing havoc on the local road systems bringing traffic to a standstill in some places.

During the storm the Swan Veterinary Hospital was damaged and had to close.

Gooseberry Hill experienced strong winds with a gust of 113km/h recorded at 1.54pm.                                              

Amongst the power outages the Swan View IGA and other shops, including the petrol station were forced to close, along with the entire Swan View Shopping Centre, while parts of the Midland Gate Shopping Centre were closed, with a roof collapsing at Target.

While Mundaring remained relatively unscathed, the rain damage extended to the York IGA which suffered flooding at the back of the store, which was made inaccessible to shoppers.

Seventy-five flights were delayed at Perth Airport due to workers not being allowed on the tarmac during a thunderstorm, and while planes could land, passengers couldn’t disembark until it was deemed safe.

In a separate incidence the Department of Fire and Emergency Services fought a blaze in Ellenbrook sparked by a lightning strike.

A Western Power spokesperson said the electricity supplier understood the inconvenience the outage caused residents and communicated directly with customers and residents directly impacted via SMS.

The damaging and destructive winds associated with the storm front threw debris, including tree branches, into the network damaging equipment and bringing down powerlines.

Western Power emergency response crews responded to more than 40 hazards, with more being reported.

“Our priority during the storm was to respond to reported hazards first before we could undertake repair to ensure the safety of the community and our crews,” a spokesperson said.

Due to storm conditions and the resulting high level of fault activity some customers were without power for an extended period, particularly where equipment such as elevated work platforms were required.

Western Power’s network operations team  worked to isolate damaged parts of the network to restore power.

By Thursday night Western Power emergency response crews restored power to the majority of customers impacted by the afternoon’s severe thunderstorm activity, however there were still around 450 homes and businesses without power in the metropolitan area including Gooseberry Hill and Bellevue.

Western Power crews responded to more than 40 hazards, while the State Emergency Service responded to more than 75 requests for help.

Customers who experience an outage for  more than 12 consecutive hours are encouraged to apply for an extended outage payment as an acknowledgement of inconvenience payment rather than compensation.