Malvern SES deals with damaged homes in Stonnington, Boroondara
Malvern SES Unit has faced its “biggest event ever” with hundreds of homes and vehicles across Stonnington and Boroondara damaged by the week’s stormy weather.
Inner East
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Hundreds of homes across Stonnington and Boroondara have been left damaged following the recent wild weather.
Malvern SES Unit has been inundated with calls — faced with its “biggest event ever” over the past four days — and its volunteers will be working for days yet to tackle the widespread damage.
The unit received more than 1150 calls for help from about 4pm on Sunday, January 19, when the heavy rain and hailstorm hit, through to the end of the rain on Thursday morning.
Unit controller Philip Munslow said the team typically only received about 700 call-outs in a whole year.
“It’s definitely the biggest event Malvern SES has ever had to deal with,” he said.
Mr Munslow said Malvern, Malvern East and Glen Iris were the hardest hit suburbs in the state, with pieces of hail so big they shattered many skylights and broke terracotta roof tiles.
He said the majority of call-outs across the region were to seal up broken roofs — a very time-consuming task.
The hail was so heavy at the Malvern SES Unit headquarters it smashed through the windscreen of an SES 4WD and dinted the cars of five volunteers who were already on call-outs when the storm hit.
Mr Munslow said much of the damage caused on Sunday was compounded by the rain overnight on Wednesday, which leaked through broken roofs.
Many of the unit’s 42 members have been working from 7.30am to midnight every day this week, working across Stonnington and much of Boroondara, and Mr Munslow said there was still a lot to be done.
The unit has been receiving help from other SES units — who have come from as far as Bendigo and Torquay — and from the MFB.
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Mr Munslow said for the first time the SES unit had the help of specialist firefighters using drones to assess storm damage to roofs.
The unit was also busy well before the storms on Sunday, sending several crews to help with fire operations in East Gippsland.
Mr Munslow said there had been a terrific ongoing effort by all volunteers and their supporters.
“We’d really like to thank the employers and families of volunteers who support them so they can support our community,” he said.