22 March 2010

Unpredictable weather


There were forecasts of thunderstorms today. I did not take them to seriously considering last week there were also forecasts of a thunderstorm and all that happened was that it got really humid.

Ha! Little did I know...

This afternoon I left the office around 5pm, just before the skies opened up. I was trying to head down to the Novotel-Langley where C and his crew were. The rain got pretty heavy fairly quickly and I ended up taking refuge behind a bus shelter. Everyone else stood on the road side, I preferred the other side to the buses - every time they drove through they would drench the shelter! By the time C and B picked me up from the bustop about 15 minutes later I was drenched and cold. I could even pour water out of my shoes!! B dropped us home but of course traffic was pretty congested and it took a while!

Luckily we were in a 4WD (work vehicle) so the engine was better designed to cope with driving through water!

As we were driving along Riverside Drive we realised that we could not see any light in across the river in South Perth. As we drove down the freeway Chad actually called out of the window to one bloke who was on his balcony and asked if he had power. He said no, as did a couple of other blokes along Labouchere Road that he quizzed.

When we got home one of my neighbours told me that their skylights had been smashed. Since our units are pretty much identical she told me to expect the same. And they were! There was water down the bottom of the stairs and also in the ensuite. All four of us with the similar floor plans have two smashed skylights, and a couple of neighbours have casualties in the shape of windows.



As it darkened we scrounged torches and candles and placed them strategically around the house. I tried to create ambience with a plate full of tea lights but it just wasn't happening! Thankfully our stove top and hot water system are gas, so we could cook food and warm ourselves up in the shower. Power was restored around 9pm.

In the light of tomorrow we shall see what the damage is. We have two holes open to the skies and we have placed a large tub under one to catch the water. The other one is in the ensuite and should flow into the drain.

More info in news reports from the ABC and The West Australian.

More news:
Mopping Up,
Damage
more Damage,
Landslide,
more Landslide

Photo of Storm damage in Rokeby Road, Subiaco. Accredited to Clarissa Phillips, on The West Australian

2 comments:

  1. We had sandwiches for dinner so you were better off than we were! Fortunately no damage to our home and I managed to survive the unusual bus public transport trip home!

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  2. We did not really have much fresh food in the house so I am afraid that dinner was a couple of bowls of Heinz microwave minestrone soup that we poured into a pot and heated up.

    It was pretty yucky but it filled the void.

    Oh, and we had some Margaret River feta and water crackers as starters.

    (I had planned to go shopping after work last night to stock up on fruit and a few other things...)

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