Australia Weather News

Residents in the South West WA town of Harvey, 140 kilometres south of Perth, are facing a big clean-up after a severe storm left homes flooded.

The Bureau of Meteorology (BOM) recorded more than 40 millimetres of rain at Dingo Road, east of the town site, in the hour to 2:30pm yesterday.

Resident Kendall Bingham said the storm that eventuated was unlike any he had seen in the area before.

"I've been in Harvey over seven years, and I've never, ever, ever seen anything like that in my whole time here," he said.

"We thought it was just going to be a normal day, you know, like a bit of rain here and there.

"It came unannounced and got everyone by surprise."

The Department of Fire and Emergency Services told the ABC it received six calls for help with water ingress.

Ahead of the storm, BOM issued a warning to residents in Collie and Harvey, flagging the risk of severe thunderstorms and potential heavy rainfall.

Mr Bingham said his property was inundated within an hour.

"I walked out the front, and the whole road, the whole front yard, the whole backyard was about 20 centimetres underwater," he said. 

"The water just kept rising and rising and rising, and I thought, 'How deep is this going to go?'"

Mr Bingham said he had never had an experience like it.