One of the things my home town of Perth is famous for is… having really nice weather.

But last week, that all changed for thirty terrifying minutes. Radio and TV shows were interrupted by warnings of an imminent thunderstorm, promising cyclonic winds, torrential rain and hail.

Huh?! The sky was bright and sunny!

But my husband worked around the backyard with the boys anyway, putting away anything heavy that might get picked up in a strong wind.

And then they noticed the huge, dark clouds coming in from the north – just like in a movie. They were boiling, rolling, churning dark grey and black, and moving as fast as an airplane.

Then it hit, and everything that had been promised was delivered.

Lightening scorched the air above our house. Thunder clapped again and again, rattling the windows, and thick tropical rain came into the house – sideways!

We watched the winds bending trees over. Hail hammered on the roof, sounding like buckets of rocks being poured on the metal sheeting. The boys howled with hysterical delight, and then with fear.

And the power went out!

The storm disappeared as fast as it had arrive, and we went cautiously outside to see what had changed in our world.

The roads was flooded, bits of trees were everywhere, power lines were broken, fences collapsed, and in our local park, the path was frequently blocked by fallen trees.

Other people were doing the same – walking around in a bit of daze, assessing the damage in disbelief. Luckily, few people were hurt, and nobody killed, in the whole of Perth.

It took two days for the power to be restored to our area, and I was getting pretty grumpy about the delay. No power for the fridge, no phones, no computer.. and the toughest thing was, no lights.

It was strange to go to bed at 8:30pm. You just can’t do much in total darkness!

But I calmed myself with the thought that this was nothing compared to the forces of nature that hit other parts of the world – earthquake, tsunami, hurricane and floods that devastate whole communities.

We really are very lucky.