Torrential rains swallowed roads delivering Albany’s highest ever rainfall with 126mm falling in 24 hours, leaving the Great Southern city soaking.

The deluge came from a microburst, similar to one that hit Perth three weeks ago, the Bureau of Meteorology said.

A microburst is a sudden, intense downdraft of wind, blasting down from a storm cloud. It can hit with torrential rain and cyclonic force winds.

The winds reached 113km/h in Gooseberry Hill on Thursday, downing power lines and trees.

“Lightning struck the house which was very loud and scary,” resident John Roberts told 9News.

“I got quite concerned, I saw some stuff flying through the air, so I went and hid in the garage.”

John Roberts’ home is one of three in the Perth suburb that lost its roof.

He’s unsure if he’ll ever be able to live in it again.

“It’s bad inside – a lot of water damage, wind damage,” Roberts said.

“The wind knocked a lot of the windows open and just tore the place up inside.”

More than 200 SES volunteers have been out since yesterday, responding to 271 calls for help.

The storm caused several minutes of destruction, that will take months to clean up.