Perth weather: Three struck by lightning in Hamersley and Mount Helena during wild thunderstorms

Two schoolgirls and a dog walker have been struck by lightning as wild thunderstorms cause chaos across the city, sparking house fires, causing power outages and wreaking havoc on Perth’s rail network.

Caitlin Vinci

PerthNow

2 Min Read

2 hours ago

Updated

28 mins ago

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Two schoolgirls and a dog walker have been struck by lightning during Thursday’s wild thunderstorms.

The teenage girls were at a secondary school in Mount Helena when they were struck about 10.10am.

St John WA paramedics were called to the school and took one of the girls to Midland Hospital and the other to Fiona Stanley Hospital.

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Earlier, a man in his 70s was walking his dog in Hamersley about 9.30am when he was also struck by lightning.

St John WA paramedics took the man by ambulance to Fiona Stanley Hospital under normal road conditions.

His injuries are serious but not life-threatening.

The condition of the dog is not yet known.

The storms marked Perth’s first significant downpour since December, with lightning strikes sparking house fires and causing train lines to shutdown across the city on Thursday.

Lightning sparked a fire in the meter box of a house on Ravenswood Drive in Nollamara at 8.35am. The blaze was contained by Department of Fire and Emergency Services firefighters by 9am.

A second fire started at a house on Amelia Street in Balcatta about 9am.

Lightning also caused “technical issues” affecting the train network’s signalling, causing trains to be cancelled and a headache for peak hour commuters.

Trains on the Mandurah Line, between Elizabeth Quay in the Perth CBD and Aubin Grove, were cancelled, as well as those on the Yanchep and Thornlie Cockburn lines. Delays remained into the morning.

Almost 3000 homes were also left without power, in suburbs including Balga, Hamersley, Hamilton Hill, Innaloo, Parmelia and Palmyra.

Western Power said electricity was expected to be restored by 1pm.

The Bureau of Meteorology said the storms are being driven by a deepening west coast trough.

South-easterly winds are expected to hit Perth in the morning, with BoM forecasting a south-westerly shift later in the afternoon.

“Little rainfall is forecast overall around the metro area with a top of 29C forecast for Perth with low intensity heatwaves ongoing in the area,” a spokesperson said.

Some locals criticised BoM for not giving adequate warning for what was to come, with one writing online that “the million dollar BoM weather app showed no rain”.

Others said they were completely blindsided, claiming they “don’t remember seeing this in the forecast last night for today”.