Tornado tears through one of Australia's ritziest suburbs, ripping roofs off homes and uprooting trees
Incredible footage showed the wild weather hit City Beach just after 5pm on Wednesday with prime real estate in the coastal suburb bearing the brunt of the force.
A huge waterspout was seen forming over the ocean near the City Beach oval before the tornado tore through the city ripping off roofs and downing trees.
City Beach resident Tilly told ABC Radio Perth she felt like the house 'was about to fly away' as she watched the havoc unfold outside while sitting in her dining room.
'I literally just looked up through the window and saw a tornado,' she said.
'There was like a column of swirling wind, there was things flying in the air, bits of roof flying, tree branches, rubbish and it was all quite high up in the air, above the tree line.
'When I saw the bits of roof flying, I was worried it was going to come through the window, so I actually ducked under the table at one stage.'
Another resident, Carlene, said she didn't see the storm coming but the sound of the wind outside was 'extraordinary.'
'All of a sudden, we heard this amazing, like, a roar, like a jet engine … the wind came through the house,' she told the radio station.
'The next door neighbour's trees are split in half.'
The Department of Fire and Emergency Services (DFES) received more than 100 calls for help.
A Bureau of Meteorology spokeswoman said its initial assessment of footage and radar observations indicate the wild weather was likely a tornado.
'Australia experiences 30 to 80 tornadoes each year, but it is possible that many more tornadoes occur in remote, unpopulated parts of Australia and therefore go unreported,' she said.
'During the cool season, there is an average of around five tornadoes reported in southwest Western Australia.'
She said there are two main types of tornadoes - supercells and non-supercells.
'Radar observations suggest this tornado may have been associated with a small supercell, although the mechanism is not actually clear-cut.'
The Bureau said predicting tornadoes is difficult and specific warnings are only issued if signs consistent with tornadoes occurring are visible on radars or direct observations are received.
In 2016, at least 7 tornadoes affected South Australia, leading to a state-wide power outage.
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