Perth's dry spell has come to a crashing end as a surprise and extreme downpour hit, even bringing down the ceiling at Ocean Keys Shopping Centre.
Roads became rivers in northern suburbs and cars were submerged in driveways, some being swept away.
"Those cars were in their carport and rolled off - there's no ignition on, they're doing that by themselves," one resident told 9News.
Paul Jenkyn was at work when the rain started and raced home to find his Santa Clara Crescent home flooded.
"So I just raced home, raced home to save the dogs really because the dogs were actually half under water," he said.
"We've had a metre of water through the front of our house."
Jenkyn wasn't alone.
"Every room's got some damage - there's water coming in through all the windows, everything that's on the carpet is worse for wear," Don Moore told 9News.
Authorities received 45 calls for help from midday.
In Clarkson, Butler and Ridgewood, 104 millimetres of rain fell in an hour, something authorities say is unprecedented.
"I've been here for around 16 years now and I've never seen anything like this - this is crazy, I can't believe it," one resident said.
"I've been doing this job a long time - [to have] 100 millimetres in under an hour is fairly unprecedented," from DFES told 9News.
For some kids, like Hara Adams and his friends, the downpour became a playground.
In Ridgewood, significant hail covered streets, roofs and front lawns, resembling a winter wonderland.
"My little boy was like, 'It's snow', and I was like not really," resident Lauren Scott-Jeffs told 9News.
The cause of the system was a low the Bureau of Meteorology had been monitoring off shore.
"We weren't expecting it to get as close to the coast as it has," the BoM told 9News.
"And it's just brushed on those northern suburbs and with it it's brought some exceptionally heavy rain and severe thunderstorms."
The severe thunderstorm warning was cancelled but the clean up across the northern suburbs was just beginning.