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When The Storm Visited Perth
Mar. 24th, 2010 02:09 pmThere's storm reports all over the Net by now ;-) Perth so rarely does anything this dramatic that we're all very excited about this one. I was too exhausted on Monday night, when it happened, to even think about posting then. I did hear that the storm broke Iinet, but it was back later that night, just before I fell over.
At work I have a big window to my left, so could see the sky darkening, until it was *very* dark by about 4pm, with wind rising. The computers blipped and around the office you could hear eeks and cries of, "Save, save!" People started to leave but I was assigned to transcribe a local daily, meaning at least one court was grimly proceeding and hadn't noticed the outside world at all. Situation normal there. The first severe wind gusts came while I was still at station and by the time I did get outside, around 5pm, it was quieter. I got up to the Hay Street Mall and under cover by the time the second gusts came and the rain sheeted down like spears. Sadly, I didn't encounter any of the huge hailstones reported by others.
So heavy was the rain that an area of the Murray Street Mall/Forest Place was under water. Once I got to the train station, I quickly discovered that what is usually shelter, was no longer. The rain got us wherever we were. Rumour had it that the trains were at Leederville, unable to get through, reported by a footslogger who had come from there. Maybe ten minutes of waiting later, a train did come and was besieged, but I'm used to this and was quick enough to get a seat! Rare and prized!
At the other end, which is maybe eight stations out from the city, the storm had visited also. A street around the corner from mine was flooded deeply enough that road and sidewalks could not be distinguished and it looked like some houses had been flooded! I'm quite thankful now that my house is on blocks, though I'd never considered floods as a likely problem. My shoes were light, summery and made of suede, so I took them off to wade through.
All was well at home, except for bigger-than-usual branches thrown down by my huge lemon-scented eucalypt. My frog pond was full and the frogs probably hiding. They complain when I hose them too hard, so they wouldn't have been impressed by this. In fact, they've never experienced anything like this. For most, it would have been their first rain. On tv, which fluctuated on-off, the storm was already the big news, with reporters trying to sound serious and report disasters with the gravity they deserved, but actually as excited about the whole thing as the rest of Perth's residents. No, I guess we don't get out much...nor do storms like this!
At work I have a big window to my left, so could see the sky darkening, until it was *very* dark by about 4pm, with wind rising. The computers blipped and around the office you could hear eeks and cries of, "Save, save!" People started to leave but I was assigned to transcribe a local daily, meaning at least one court was grimly proceeding and hadn't noticed the outside world at all. Situation normal there. The first severe wind gusts came while I was still at station and by the time I did get outside, around 5pm, it was quieter. I got up to the Hay Street Mall and under cover by the time the second gusts came and the rain sheeted down like spears. Sadly, I didn't encounter any of the huge hailstones reported by others.
So heavy was the rain that an area of the Murray Street Mall/Forest Place was under water. Once I got to the train station, I quickly discovered that what is usually shelter, was no longer. The rain got us wherever we were. Rumour had it that the trains were at Leederville, unable to get through, reported by a footslogger who had come from there. Maybe ten minutes of waiting later, a train did come and was besieged, but I'm used to this and was quick enough to get a seat! Rare and prized!
At the other end, which is maybe eight stations out from the city, the storm had visited also. A street around the corner from mine was flooded deeply enough that road and sidewalks could not be distinguished and it looked like some houses had been flooded! I'm quite thankful now that my house is on blocks, though I'd never considered floods as a likely problem. My shoes were light, summery and made of suede, so I took them off to wade through.
All was well at home, except for bigger-than-usual branches thrown down by my huge lemon-scented eucalypt. My frog pond was full and the frogs probably hiding. They complain when I hose them too hard, so they wouldn't have been impressed by this. In fact, they've never experienced anything like this. For most, it would have been their first rain. On tv, which fluctuated on-off, the storm was already the big news, with reporters trying to sound serious and report disasters with the gravity they deserved, but actually as excited about the whole thing as the rest of Perth's residents. No, I guess we don't get out much...nor do storms like this!