Last week in the Perth northern suburbs there was a tornado that did quite a bit of damage to some homes. Then on Sunday, throughout Perth, there were winds of 140km/h that did some more damage. The people whose homes wre damaged in the tornado must have thought that they were experiencing a deja vu.
We happened to be out and about during the wind storm and, frankly, it didn't seem that bad. Yes it was blustery and gusty and there were some tree branches down but that's about it. People here don't really know what bad weather is. When it rains a little there are hundreds of car accidents. When it's windy and rainy people stay home out of fear of the 'storm'. People will literally not leave their homes in these "inclement" conditions. People even complain when it's only twenty degrees outside. Mind you, the way the homes are built 20 degrees feels more like 10 degrees when you're just sitting around the living room. In general, Perthites are quite dramatic about the weather even though they don't really have dramatic weather conditions, with the exception of the odd tornado.
Don't get me wrong, I'm not trying to disparage the real safety concerns that exist whever there are extremish weather conditions. A tornado is certainly a seriously dangerous weather phenomenon. However, people are spoilt when it comes to weather. If they experienced a Canadian winter storm they would likely think it was a sign of the approaching Armageddon. Perthists need to toughen up when it comes to a little wind and rain.
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