HAIL..

22 March 2010, a devastating storm with golf balls size of hail stones hits Perth angrily. Homes were damaged, city was flooded, cars were damaged, power were knocked out, surgeries were to cancel, schools were closing, landslides happened and even my uni had evacuation last night during classes. According to news, 150,000 properties were without power since yesterday evening. It was a total chaos.

This is my first experience with such nature disaster. I were totally freaked out. When it first happened, I were doing groceries shopping with my brother. Out of a sudden, we heard some loud bangs on the roof top and electricity went off for a lil while. Kids starting crying and the others turned around and look at each other. We rushed home right after groceries shopping and thought we were safe from it. Who knew, around half an hour later, storm came. Strong winds, lightnings, rains and hails all in one time. Electricity went off and left us in pitch dark. Luckily me and my housemates were all at home. We rushed into living room, looked for candles and torchlight, turned off all switches, secure all doors and windows, and tried to contact our friends and families. For half an hour, I got no signal for my phone. I were panicked. I needed to check if my brother is doing alright at home, if my friends are safe.. When the signal came back, my phone's battery was running low. Thank god i do have a spare phone with only 2 bars left of battery. Friends started calling/sms to check if we are safe and update us with the latest news. We heard that near to 90% cars in UWA were smashed and some houses were damaged just half an hour after the whole thing happened. There were some friends stuck in outdoors and it got even worse when my uni evacuated the buildings. Working friends were stuck in office or on the road with the massive traffic jam. I were so worried for friends that were out there.

Neighbours and a friend came over to our place, we cooked dinner and started fooling around for abit when the rain stopped. Bet my parents will faint when they see what we did. We went out of the house, took a chair, lean to the wall and started to pose for photos with the beautiful sunset, and even talk to our neighbours next door over the wall. Lol! Crazy stuff happened when we were left with no electricity! After dinner, we felt so restless. Phones were dying one by one. Panic kicked in. I don't want to be cut off from the world. Right this moment, good news came. Friends of ours actually have electricity at their place. Packed our stuff and we went over to our friends' place. The first thing we did was to charge our phones!!

Eight hours of blackout with the warning of second wave of hailstorms is on its way, i weren't able to sleep in when i got home. Prayed and prayed and prayed for God's mercy on us. Thank god again, electricity came back to us during the middle of the night. However, some friends are still experiencing blackout till this moment.

Lightning strikes off the coast at Fremantle. Pic: Astrid Volzke.

Hail damage at Perth caryard. Pic: Steve Ferrier

Apartment were damaged. Pic: John Mokrzycki

The storm front arrived in Perth. Pic: Andre Lissiman

Flood in Subiaco. Pic: Clarissa Phillips

Photo from FB - I survived the Great Storm of Perth group

Check out videos on Youtube!

This storm is madness. Hopefully everyone is safe and there won't be another wave of hailstorm! Crossed fingers!!

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