Traffic fears after worst storm in 50 years batters Perth

PERTH was plunged into chaos last night as wild thunderstorms ripped through the city with a ferocity not seen in decades.

Motorists have been warned to take care with more than 80 traffic lights still out of action after last night's wild storms and more bad weather on the way.

Western Australian Police will be focusing on controlling traffic at major intersections where traffic lights are not working, including parts of Albany Hwy, Reid Hwy, Orrong Rd, Wanneroo Rd, Roe Hwy, Scarborough Beach Rd and Leach Hwy.

A landslide has closed the eastbound lane of Mounts Bay Rd between Winthrop Ave and Mitchell Freeway and people trying to access the Mount Hospital are advised to travel there via Thomas Rd and Kings Park Rd.

The storm that swept Perth yesterday afternoon has caused millions of dollars worth of damage, and more than 90,000 homes are still without power.

Power companies were scrambling to restore power, but said it could be days before some homes had electricity after extensive damage to their networks.

More storms are forecast today, but they are not expected to match the ferocity of the one that lashed the city yesterday.

One of the city's longest dry spells ended dramatically as torrential rain and large hailstones caused flash flooding, structural damage to houses, schools and hospitals, and cut power to tens of thousands of homes.

Parts of the city were brought to a standstill, rail services were halted and at one stage all out-bound flights from Perth Airport were stopped when part of the ceiling collapsed under the weight of the deluge.

At least seven schools were also closed including Ocean Reef High School, Shenton College, Mindarie Senior College, Duncraig Senior High School, Tuart College, Heathridge Primary School and Perth Modern junior school.

The wild storm hit the city after 4pm local time with hailstones the size of golf balls caving-in roofs and damaging hundreds of cars.

Were you in Perth when the storm hit?

Thornlie "tree man" Richard Pennicuik claims he was struck by lightning during the violent storm - but even that wasn't enough to bring him down from the tree he has been trying to save for 105 days.

Mr Pennicuik, 57, told PerthNow his metal harness was hit by lightning, "which sent bolts through me".

Read more on Pennicuik's harrowing ordeal here.

The state's power utility, Western Power, said it could not guarantee electricity would be restored within 24-36 hours.

There were hundreds of reports across the city of power lines down, structural damage to houses and schools, and of roofs being ripped from newly built homes.

Landslip

Late last night three major Perth hospitals cancelled elective surgery for 24 hours because of roof damage. At Joondalup Hospital about 20 people were evacuated from the emergency room after part of the ceiling collapsed.

At least three high schools reported they would be closed today because of storm damage. Across the city power lines and trees were brought down, windows smashed and roads flooded.

Police said a landslip at the edge of King's Park near Perth's city centre crushed two parked cars and filled one apartment with mud, but there were no reports of people hurt.

Last night as Perth residents assessed the damage warnings were issued of further storms.

Murky conditions made driving dangerous and 150 sets of traffic lights were knocked out.

'Come eat my boyfriend' killer told doctors she want to commit mass murder

THE father of a man stabbed to death by his mentally ill girlfriend on Christmas Day says he feels let down by doctors who knew she was a danger to the community.

Tamie Melehan, 29, had been diagnosed with paranoid schizophrenia in 2002, hospitalised 20 times in seven years and had previously told doctors she wanted to commit mass murder.

She killed David Vaughan in the shower of her apartment on December 25, 2008.

Moments after slashing his throat, Melehan texted another boyfriend telling him she was going to eat the body because "I think he tastes good" and invited him over to join her.

In the NSW Supreme Court today, Justice Monika Schmidt said Melehan's plea of not guilty by reason of mental illness had been successfully made out and ordered that she be detained until the Mental Health Tribunal saw fit to release her.

But, speaking outside court, Mr Vaughan's father, Dr Alan Vaughan, said the family and the whole community had been left unprotected by the mental health system, which had not adequately supervised Melehan.

"According to the judgment there were warnings given about the defendant and about her danger to the community as far back as 2006 and she'd been in hospital for many years before that," Dr Vaughan said.

"Those warnings weren't acted on in a meaningful way.

"They still allowed her to be part of the community - sure treating her, but (she was) clearly not adequately supervised because it has resulted in my son's death.

"I would like to see that changed so that more appropriate care is taken of people who have severe mental illness."

David Vaughan's own experiences as a severe burns and car crash victim made him more empathetic to other people, both of his parents wrote in a letter to the judge.

But Dr Vaughan added he didn't think his son - who seemed pleased to have met someone - knew the extent of Melehan's problems.

"We think that he knew she had some problems but I don't think he knew the extent of the problems or the extent of the hospitalisation that she'd undergone," he said outside court.

Dr Vaughan said the family bore Melehan no ill will - they just hoped the mental health system would not let her down

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Topic: What are the potential effects of global warming in terms of climate change and how can they be arrested?

Global warming is a process which was actually necessary as it tends to keep the earth warm and comfortable for humans to live in. As the sun projects its radiation towards earth, the light passes through the atmosphere and some is radiated back into space in the form of infra red. The rest of the infra red is trapped by the atmosphere which keeps the earth warm at an appropriate temperature. However, as the atmosphere thickens, more of the infra red is trapped inside making earth warmer and warmer. The gases that are responsible for thickening the atmosphere are the green house gases that are produce by human activities. The question is, what are the potential effects of global warming on climate and how can they be stop?

Global warming creates impact on the strength and occurrence of hurricanes and storms. Ocean temperature that increases intensifies the power of hurricane to a deadly nature disaster. Japan and United States have recorded large number of death reports due to hurricane events. The science text book have had to be re-written because they say that it is impossible to have hurricane in south Atlantic, but the same year the first one ever hit brazil (Al-Gore 2006). As the water temperature goes increases, the wind velocity increases and the moisture content increases, making the hurricane stronger and stronger resulting to devastating effect (Al-Gore 2006).

Global warming also means more precipitation of water that come in a onetime storm. Evaporation of ocean moisture up and form clouds. Flood cases have been shown all around the world such as China and India. However, the warming does not only increase precipitation but also relocate it. High latitudes area and generally wet places will tend to receive more rainfall, while tropical regions and generally dry places will probably receive less rain. Darfur – Nigeria, they are having great difficulties as the drought take place for a period of time. Warming result in evaporation of ocean that makes more clouds but, it also sucks moisture from the soil making drought.

Global warming is also affecting the seasons. The warm temperature has shift the growing season in many parts of the globe. Spring is coming earlier, which signals the migrating animals to keep up with the seasons to follow food sources. Those animals that failed to keep up ended up facing extinction. Warmer temperature has also result an extend towards growing season, plants need more water to keep growing or they will dry out, increasing the risk of fires. Shorter winters have failed to kill insects and vectors. More and more infectious diseases are no longer under control due to the unexpected pattern of the seasons. And we had 30 so called new diseases that have emerged just in the last quarter century. (Al-Gore 2006)

To reduce global warming means to produce less carbon dioxide. Human beings are the one causing this catastrophic event to happen and so we are able to reduce it as well. More efficient electricity appliances, higher mileage cars, the use of renewable and a lot more possible means can be done to reduce and finally stop global warming. Research shows that we can even reach below 1970 carbon emission if we can together work towards energy efficiency.