Perth weather: Cottesloe Primary damaged and trees uprooted across State as thousands remain without power

A ferocious storm that swept across the south of the State overnight knocked out power to more than 30,000 homes, uprooted trees and destroyed a heritage listed building as the wild weather caused havoc.

A cold front crossing the Greater Perth area caused severe thunderstorms along the coast on Wednesday night, with power outages and damage reported from Lancelin to the South West.

At 10pm on Wednesday, nearly 7000 homes in Yanchep, Two Rocks and Eglinton were without power as were nearly 8000 properties in Kingsley, Padbury, Duncraig, Mullaloo, Kallaroo and Hillarys.

On Thursday morning, more than 3000 homes across the State remained without power, with some residents in Hillarys, Palmyra and Kingsley likely to be affected until 2pm.

The strong winds created mayhem, with massive trees toppling and properties damaged.

A house lost its roof in Lancelin, where wind gusts reached up to 126km/h.

The SES received more than 60 requests for assistance around WA, with 38 of those jobs isolated to Perth’s north coastal suburbs.

A DFES spokesperson said the suburbs of Currambine, Ocean Reef and North Beach were the worst affected while Safety Bay was the most impacted in Perth’s south.

“Most of the requests were for water coming through windows, ceiling leaks and roof tiles being blown away,” a spokesperson said.

A heritage-listed building was destroyed at Cottesloe Primary School after a tree toppled over a fence on Stirling Highway.

The building — built in the late 1800s — was being used as a sports equipment and bike shed. The school is going to assess the extent of the full extent damage today as it blocks off the area to students.

The Lancelin Beach Sands Hotel confirmed to The West Australian that the roof of an associated motel had been damaged. A staff member was inside the building at the time but escaped without injury.

A house lost its roof in Lancelin — where wind gusts reached up to 126km/h — and the SES was dispatched to provide assistance

In Beldon, the roof of a property partially crumbled due to the severe winds, while a fence at a Carramar property toppled over.

Trees were also uprooted in neighbouring suburbs, including City Beach and Fremantle.

In Karrinyup, a car was consumed by a tree after it was toppled by strong winds.

Unsecured trampolines were blown around the neighbourhoods of Butler and Warwick, while trees blocked roads.

Lancelin resident Mik Gatto said firefighters and police had scrambled to respond to reports of damage.

“We were driving in it. It was pretty full on,” he said.

“There are trees down, fences down and power lines all around town. A roof has blown off at least one house too.”

Natalie Nicholas’ whole fence toppled over in Butler, while a shed had flown onto Ocean Reef Road.

In Two Rocks, a massive tree was blocking the entrance to the shops after strong gusts knocked it down.

A Dandaragan resident was delayed getting home by an hour due to a tree blocking the road.

“All the roads into Dandaragan are blocked or partially blocked. Cars can get through but there’s no way trucks could,” she said.