If you've ever wondered how rare it is for multiple people to be struck by lightning on the same day in the same city, the answer is: extraordinarily rare. Perth found out the hard way this week, when a powerful summer storm swept across the metropolitan area and left three people hospitalised, one beloved dog dead, a house on fire, and transport across the city in chaos, according to 9News.
At Eastern Hills Senior High School in Mt Helena, Year 11 student Georgia and a friend were standing on the tennis courts when lightning struck a nearby metal post. The current travelled to both girls, and Georgia described the sensation in vivid terms.
"I got struck, it hit my head, I felt shivers down my spine but on the inside, and I found out it was my spine vibrating. I was just standing around the tennis court talking to my friends about the school ball and then everyone's hair just started sticking up."
Both girls were rushed to hospital and later discharged. Georgia's back remains sore, but doctors do not expect any permanent injury from the strike, which is fortunate given how serious lightning contact can be.
About an hour and a half before the school incident, 78-year-old grandfather Michael Day was walking his dog, Messi, through a park in Hamersley in Perth's north-west when lightning found them both. Neighbours heard Day cry out and rushed to find him injured and Messi dead beside him. Part of his clothing had been torn off by the force of the strike, and his umbrella, keys and phone were all destroyed. He was taken to Royal Perth Hospital, where he remained in a stable condition with burns to his abdomen and thighs.
His daughter, Karyn Avalos, spoke warmly of the dog who may have absorbed the worst of the strike.
"It's really true what they say, dogs really are man's best friend, because we believe that Messi saved my dad."
Paramedics from St John WA specialist operations said the day's events were unlike anything they had previously encountered. Senior paramedic Deane Coxall described the situation as "an incredibly unfortunate and unlikely event", adding that he would not be surprised if Perth never saw anything similar again.
Across the metropolitan area, the Bureau of Meteorology recorded more than 10,000 lightning strikes as the storm moved through. The disruption extended well beyond the human toll. Trains on the Mandurah line were cancelled between Elizabeth Quay and Aubin Grove, eight flights were delayed at Perth Airport, and in Nollamara, a home on Ravenswood Drive caught fire after a metre box was struck. Resident Dorothy Rainbow told reporters the smell of burning reached her bedroom before anyone realised the house had been hit.
Lightning safety is something Emergency WA regularly reminds residents about during storm season, with key advice including seeking shelter indoors, avoiding open ground and tall isolated objects, and staying away from metal structures. The cases in Mt Helena and Hamersley both reflect circumstances that lightning safety guidelines specifically warn against: being near metal fixtures outdoors and walking in open parkland during a storm.
The last recorded lightning strike on a person in Perth before this week dated back to 2022, which makes the occurrence of three in a single day all the more striking, in every sense. Georgia summed up the day with the kind of understatement that only a teenager could manage: she had, after all, survived a lightning strike and still had the school ball to look forward to.