Australia Weather News
Witnesses say pedestrians ran as the awning fell down onto the footpath on Oxford Street. - ABC
A man has been injured after being hit by an awning that collapsed during heavy rain in the northern Perth suburb of Mt Hawthorn.
The awning — outside a barber and medical centre on Oxford Street — fell down about 11:30am.
The man, aged in his 50s, suffered minor head injuries and was taken by ambulance to Sir Charles Gairdner Hospital.
Real estate agent Roy Barraclough said he had a narrow escape as he went to leave his office.
"[I] got to where our gate is just on the pavement and looked up, the rain was bouncing a couple of feet off the floor," he said.
"I thought forget that, came back in to grab me hat, picked the hat up and bang, it fell — literally the direction I was going in."
Mr Barraclough said the awning came down "like a bag of spuds".
"People were just running out [of the way], a few people had run in behind where the roof had fell down, it was just instant," he said.
The area on Oxford Street has been cordoned off.
Perth has recorded 20 millimetres of rain since 9:00am.
A coroner last year recommended all awnings over public land in Queensland be urgently inspected after a man was crushed to death by one on the Gold Coast.
ABC