The roof has been ripped off a pub in Western Australia with people still inside as a severe storm tore through the south-west and Perth.

Two people were taken to hospital today after the Parade Hotel in Bunbury, south of Perth was damaged, while other patrons were left startled.

"It was scary, it was an intense blast, I thought from where we were the windows were caving," Robert Skipsey told 9News Perth.

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Member for Bunbury Don Punch said the storm damage was devastating for the dedicated business owners.

"Those owners have put their heart and soul into rebuilding that pub after major fire damage," Punch said.

"To see it in the condition it's in now, it's a tough gig."

The south-west experienced the worst of the severe weather with a long clean-up expected for residents.

Plant nursery Owy's Garden has an estimated damage bill of $500,000.

"It's come through and cleared out everything," Ben Parry told 9News Perth.

"Every shade house, every hot house, thousands of plants gone."

There were more than two hundred calls for help and more than 80 millimetres of rain for some parts of the state.

"It's a big storm, that's the second in less than a month so Bunbury's copping a bit of a hammering," resident Bruce Welsh said.

The Bureau of Meteorology is investigating whether Bunbury's storm was a tornado

"The final report that we're waiting for is evidence of rotation," senior forecaster Gianni Colangelo said.

A group of wannabe luxury car thieves in Queensland have run over one of their own in a 12-tonne tank and ultimately thwarted their plan.

Three hooded figures broke into Mark Trueno's Coopers Plains workshop to steal his prized collection of cars on Friday.

One man went to work at the back of the tank with an angle grinder while another tried to reverse the military vehicle in haste and crushed him in the process.

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"They've come prepared. They've got crowbar, grinder, torch, everything except their own brain apparently," Trueno told 9News Queensland.

The driver climbed out of the vehicle, rifled through several drawers and ran away while the injured man was pinned against the bollard.

"The CCTV reminded me of like Home Alone where there's clown criminals just doing things over and over just wrong," Trueno said.

Trueno said the thieves still managed to get away with the keys to three cars worth more than $500,000 and full of sentimental value.

"It's really upsetting because I mean these are two of my dream cars from when I was a kid," Trueno said.

"Then just to see someone bust down the doors and try take them 12-tonnes of military vehicle thwarted their plan."

The tank is currently being restored to raise money for the Tough Times Foundation, which builds wheelchair-accessible vans.

Some Queensland teachers are calling for body cameras to be part of their uniform as violence in the classroom rises.

More than 20,000 students in the state were expelled or suspended due to physical aggression last year.

A trial for teacher-worn body cameras would allow the behaviour to be captured, which could also help parents understand what educators are facing everyday.

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"Teachers are being physically and verbally abused every day that's not okay," Education Minister Di Farmer said.

"Desks are being thrown at them, chairs, they're being punched, spat on," Teachers' Professional Association of Queensland national coordinator Scott Stanford added.

The proposal is being trialled in the United Kingdom and United States. 

But the suggestion has divided opinions here, with some flagging legal and cost ramifications while others claim it won't fix the core problem.

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"If it's something the teachers are requiring to protect themselves then I'm all for it," Stanford said.

"We're really concerned about privacy of our students and our staff and this would be a bridge too far we think," Queensland Association of State School Principals president Pat Murphy said.

"It's part of a possible or potential solution but there's a lot to be considered before you go down that road," Queensland Teachers Union president Cresta Richardson said.

The Education department has a range of suggestions that will be put forward to an expert group looking into a potential trial. 

Three stranded teenagers have been rescued after their "help" sign written in sand was spotted by a pilot flying over the Western Australian coastline.

Air traffic control notified police a pilot had seen the message next to a car near Hutt Lagoon Pink Lake in Gregory, more than 400 kilometres north of Perth, after 3pm today.

Police rushed to the area and about 30 minutes later received another report that a person on board a plane had seen the same distress message.

READ MORE: Rescue crews continue to search rubble for woman missing after explosion

The Australian Maritime Safety Authority was called in to assist as one of its jets was nearby and it was unclear what the emergency was.

"The AMSA Challenger jet flew over the area and was able to establish a vehicle was bogged, but did not appear to be damaged," police said.

"The GPS coordinates of the stranded vehicle were provided to the police officers heading to the area."

Police drove as close to the area as they could and then continued on foot across scrub and dry lake due to an incoming tide and rough terrain. 

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Officers eventually made it to the white Holden Colorado where they found three teenagers uninjured.

They had been stranded for six hours and did not have any recovery equipment or an emergency beacon, police said.

"The stranded trio were driven to Lucky Bay, where they were reunited with family/friends," police said.

"The vehicle was left in situ for recovery at a later time."

A Melbourne family is pleading for help to find a missing grandfather who vanished five days ago after being discharged from hospital.

Ronan Clarke was discharged from Frankston hospital on Tuesday at 3pm and his family has been unable to find him since.

"The past five days have been really hard, just searching for him everywhere, having no leads of where he could be," his daughter Cassandra Clarke told 9News Melbourne.

The 54-year-old lives with an acquired brain injury and he has a medical condition that requires daily medication.

"He takes medication twice a day, because he's also a severe epileptic," she said.

His son Travis Clarke said the hospital provided his mother with updates about his father while he was in their care.

"So I don't understand as to why they just let him go without calling anybody," he told 9News.

Ronan was last seen wearing black clothing, sunglasses and is believed to be barefoot. 

He is about 170 centimetres tall, with a slim build, long black hair and tattoos on his chest and legs. 

The family was told Ronan might have been spotted walking past Peninsula Aquatic Recreation Centre before the weekend.

A spokesperson for Peninsula Health told 9News Melbourne it was unable to comment on specific cases but the safety and wellbeing of patients was of utmost importance

Ronan's son said the family was desperate to see the loving grandfather come home.

"We're so worried about him and very concerned about his welfare," he said.

Kia Kanuta wins award at masquerade event.

The body of former missing person Natasha Ryan, who was previously known for being found hiding in her boyfriend's cupboard while a man was on trial for her murder, has been found in Central Queensland.

Police told 9News Queensland the 40-year-old was found dead at the Rockhampton Golf Course this morning.

Officers will prepare a report for the coroner, with police saying the circumstances of her death were not suspicious.

Ryan ran away from her Queensland home at the age of 14 and disappeared.

For years police searched for her, and a man was charged with murdering her.

Almost five years after her disappearance, the man was on trial for her murder when police raided her boyfriend's home and found the then-schoolgirl, alive and well, hiding in his cupboard.

She then became known as 'the girl in the cupboard'.

Readers seeking support can contact Lifeline on 13 11 14 or beyond blue on 1300 22 4636.

Six cars were impounded and two people were arrested.

Russia has a complex 128-year history at the Olympic Games and it is about to enter a new era in Paris 2024, as the country's athletes will compete under a completely new title.

The International Olympic Committee (IOC) announced it would allow athletes from Russia to compete as Individual Neutral Athletes (INA) following Russia's invasion of Ukraine, which has been ongoing since February 2022.

The same order was made for Belarus, which supported Russia in the invasion.

It means athletes from those countries will compete without any mention of their country, like how Russian and Belarusian tennis players are presented at ATP, WTA and grand slam events.

It is not the first time Russia has been disciplined by the IOC.

More than 100 of its athletes were banned from Rio 2016 after the World Anti-Doping Agency's (WADA) independent commission found "systematic doping" had occurred, which had knock-on effects for subsequent Olympic Games.

So what is a neutral athlete?

An Individual Neutral Athlete is the name used to refer to athletes with either a Russian or Belarusian passport who will be competing at this year's Games in July and August.

These athletes are referred to by the abbreviation AIN, which comes from the French translation Athlètes Individuels Neutres.

These athletes will be permitted to compete if they meet eligibility requirements.

No reference to either country will be made at the Games through the athletes' participation, meaning the countries will not compete in team sports.

"The sanctions against those responsible for the war, the Russian and Belarusian states and governments, remain in place for the Olympic Games Paris 2024," the IOC said in a statement.

"No flag, anthem, colours or any other identifications whatsoever of Russia or Belarus will be displayed at the Olympic Games Paris 2024 in any official venue or any official function," the statement continues.

Competition gear for the AINs has not yet been revealed, so it is unclear whether it will bear the turquoise colours of the brand-new flag of the AINs, or that they will don basic sportswear.

An anthem, without lyrics, has also been commissioned for use in medal ceremonies.

Though AINs are eligible to compete and win Olympic medals, they will not be displayed in the medal table of nations.

AINs will also be excluded from the parade of delegations at the Opening Ceremony on the basis that they are individual athletes rather than a team, though the IOC has said "an opportunity will be provided for them to experience the event".

'A workable solution'

Victoria University Professor Ramón Spaaij told 9news.com.au the decision to have neutral athletes was a compromise and a workable solution.

"You're not denying individual athletes who've been working towards peak performance at an event like this … their right to participate," Spaaij said.

About 55 Russian athletes and 28 Belarusians are expected to compete at Paris 2024, according to the IOC.

"Those athletes will probably be very wary of making any political statements," Spaaij said.

He said the athletes from those countries might not support the invasion but it was also necessary to penalise the countries.

"You're robbing them of the opportunity to showcase the strength of their regime through their achievements on the sporting field," Spaaij said.

Teams have previously refused to play against Russian teams, like in the FIFA World Cup, which Spaaij said becomes "absolute chaos".

Russia being allowed to compete could also be hurtful to Ukrainian athletes. 

He said the solution wasn't ideal but it seemed to be the best way to handle the situation.

Russia's success

Despite its political issues, Russia has proven to be a major competitor at the Games.

The country first competed as the Russian Empire in 1900, 1908 and 1912.

It didn't compete again until 1952 as the Soviet Union, then as the Unified Team in 1992 after the union break-up.

They competed as Russia from 1996 until these games.

As the Soviet Union they finished first five times and when competing as Russia, the nation finished in the top four at each Games until Rio 2016.

– Reported with CNN

Police are searching for a group who broke into a home in Melbourne's north-west in the early hours of the morning, stealing a laptop, keys, and Mercedes.

The offenders stormed the house on Gibsons Circuit in Bonnie Brook about 5.45am on Thursday while two people were asleep inside, police said.

They allegedly ransacked the house before fleeing in the victim's Mercedes that was parked outside.

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Police found the Mercedes dumped in Lalor about 8am.

No arrests have been made as police continue to search for the offenders.

Anyone who witnessed the incident, has dashcam or CCTV footage or information is urged to contact Crime Stoppers on 1800 333 000.