Ambulance call outs hit record high as SA swelters through historically hot day
Ambulance officers have attended a record number of calls as multiple South Australian towns and cities posted record high temperature readings on Friday.
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As heat records across nine South Australian towns tumbled, the state’s ambulance service recorded its busiest ever day and emergency departments were overloaded.
Bureau of Meteorology officials said Keith reached 49.2C, making it the hottest location in the state yesterday and smashing the town’s previous record temperature by three degrees.
Lameroo (48.4C), Renmark and Coober Pedy (48.3C), Woomera (48.2C) and Murray Bridge (48.1C) all rewrote the weather history books with never-before recorded mercury readings.
Adelaide reached 43.9C at West Tce, failing to break the December record set a day earlier at 45.3C.
The city is expected to have a much milder top of 25C today as a cool change breaks SA’s four-day heatwave.
The wild weather triggered a fierce dust storm at William Creek in the state’s Far North, as temperatures hit 46C and winds whipped up the region’s parched red dirt.
William Creek Hotel manager Rose Broughton told The Advertiser the dust storm was one of the worst the region had experienced.
“We have been experiencing quite strong winds and it hasn’t let up at all,” she said.
“It’s pretty bad up here at the moment.
“It’s a no-fly zone because it’s just too hot and dusty to let planes up. The wind is so strong that it’s really knocking around the trees.”
Roads in Port Augusta started to melt after the temperature reached 44.1C.
By 4pm yesterday, as temperatures continued to rise ahead of the change, SA Ambulance Service had attended 489 heat-related incidents since Monday, with 315 patients being taken to hospital.
Ambulances arriving at some emergency departments yesterday were forced to ramp.
Flinders Medical Centre had treated 73 patients in its 53-capacity ED as of 4pm, while Noarlunga Hospital had treated 30 people in its 26-capacity ED.
The Repatriation General Hospital had its own woes, with its airconditioning breaking down due to overheating for a “short period” according to officials. Across the city there were 294 patients being treated in the 299-capacity ED system, with 41 people waiting and 35 expected to arrive by ambulance.
Homeless shelters are staying open longer as part of the State Government’s Code Red alert to keep the vulnerable, including rough sleepers, safe.
Mike Francis from the Hutt St Centre said there were a “couple of hundred people” seeking an escape from the heat but the vast majority were regular visitors known to staff.
“Our day centre normally opens from 7am to 1pm but we are staying open until 5pm to get through the worst heat of the day,” he said.
Homes cut off from electricity grid as risks ramped up
Thousands of homes were cut off from the electricity grid yesterday because of fire safety but there was no load shedding due to supply shortages.
“Due to catastrophic fire conditions, power was disconnected at about 1pm for about 10,000 customers in the Mid North in an area stretching from Thompson Beach in the west to Seppeltsfield in the east and from north of Gawler to Balaklava and Riverton,” SA Power Networks spokesman Paul Roberts said. Power was restored from about 4pm.
The CFS also requested power to be cut around the Cudlee Creek fire zone, affecting about 1700 premises.
As soon as it is safe, SAPN crews will assess damage and plan power restoration – most likely starting this morning.
“We expect to find a range of damage to our infrastructure and customer properties also will have suffered electrical damage that will need to be attended to by their electricians before we can safely reconnect them,” Mr Roberts said. There also were multiple localised outages.
While SAPN disconnected customers for safety, SA had enough supply throughout the week’s heatwave.
However, wholesale spot prices spiked from $115/MWh to $14,700/MWh around 6.30pm on Thursday.
“High prices in SA on Thursday night were the result of high demand coinciding with grid and rooftop solar generation reducing as the sun set,” the Australian Energy Market Operator said.
Early analysis by Paul McCardle, of consultants Global-Roam, found wind only picked up after solar had faded – creating the gap when prices soared. There was no load shedding because gas and diesel plants were available.
“The problem is that what was there was all expensively priced,” Mr McArdle said.
One unit at AGL’s Torrens Island Power Station A had a “minor technical issue” and did not generate. Its new Barker Inlet Power Station should be at full power early next year.
— Chris Russell
Baby bats perish as mercury skyrockets
Thousands of bats, mainly babies, have perished from heat stress, decimating Adelaide’s Botanic Park colony.
Fauna Rescue flying fox co-ordinator Sue Westover said about 300 grey-headed flying foxes have been in their care as a result of this week’s horror heatwave.
She and other volunteers have worked around-the-clock to try to cope with the influx of dehydrated and heat-stressed bats from the 30,000-strong colony.
“For the last two days, we’ve had a total wipe-out of the young babies in the colony,” she said.
“There have been thousands of deceased flying foxes and with today’s temperature and strong winds, a lot of the adults will die.”
“We don’t know what the numbers will be,” said Ms Westover.
She said ground sprinkler systems were turned on at the park but the flying foxes who reside in higher pine trees were still struggling. “They’ve come down to have a drink from the puddles … but we need sprinklers systems put in the trees,” she said.
Ms Westover said they were in desperate need for fruit for the distressed bats in their care but a drop-off location would be announced soon.
The group also needs donated baby blankets, tea towels and linens, which can be dropped off at the park by the Botanic High School, while clean newspapers can be donated at its Holden Hill centre.
Meanwhile there have been unconfirmed reports of bees dying across South Australia under the heat but the SA Apiarists Association said more information would be available after the weekend.
— Josephine Lim
