Victoria’s ‘wild night’ as storms leave a trail of destruction across Melbourne and Geelong
Severe-weather experts have travelled to Geelong in a bid to find out what caused last night’s catastrophic storm that left a trail of destruction through several suburbs. It comes as crews scramble to patch up scores of homes before more rain hits. SEE THE PICTURES
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Severe-weather experts have been called in to determine what caused last night’s freak storm in Geelong, including whether a tornado was to blame.
The catastrophic event tore off roofs, sent wheelie bins flying into the air and frightened homeowners ducking for cover when a band of severe storms crossed the state after midnight.
Emergency services are frantically trying to patch up more than 100 roofs and repair walls this afternoon as the state braces for another band of rain tonight.
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Weather bureau state manager Dr Andrew Tupper said three severe-weather specialists had travelled to Geelong to try to find the exact cause of the destruction.
He said the stormfront intensified as it approached the Geelong area which led to the damage about 1.15am, with Ironbark St in Waurn Ponds particularly hard-hit.
“The damage was caused by wind coming down from the storms, we’re not sure exactly at this stage what the mechanism for that was,” Dr Tupper said.
“With severe storms you can get tornadoes, downbursts or microbursts.
“We’ve got a team of three severe-weather specialists from the bureau on site having a look at the damage patterns together with State Emergency Service and MFB and evaluating what it was exactly that has caused that damage.
“A tornado characteristically causes damage in all directions because it’s obviously twisting around, whereas the downbursts tend to cause the damage in a straight line so everything tends to be blown the same way.”
A line of severe storms came through just after midnight with hail and gusty winds lashing Geelong and the southwest coast.
The suburbs of Mt Duneed and Waurn Ponds were the hardest hit around 1.30am, and the storms were so severe that the State Emergency Service received seven calls reporting an earthquake.
The SES received 151 call outs to Mt Duneed and Waurn Ponds alone, with a further 46 requests for assistance from other parts of the southwest region.
Victorian SES chief officer Tim Wiebusch said crews had travelled from as far as Bendigo and Benalla to help local units.
He confirmed four homes had been left uninhabitable and another 60 properties were being assessed for severe roof damage.
“We’ve received significant support from the MFB with their drones which has helped identify further properties that have been damaged in this storm event that homeowners we’re even aware of,” Mr Wiebusch said.
A community information point has also been established in Ironbark St, Waurn Ponds.
Waurn Ponds resident Simon Aitken told Leader the damage was done in about 20 seconds.
“It was like a jet engine on top of the roof,” he said.
“We were sound asleep, woke up and ran towards the kids bedrooms and by the time we got there it was all over.
“We heard it whistling up the street, it absolutely roared through.”
Mr Aitken said his garage roof was ripped off and thrown across the backyard and finished up against the back fence.
He said the side of the pergola and the back of the garage was also destroyed, with bricks left strewn across the ground.
He said most of his next door neighbour’s tiled roof had been destroyed and there was water damage all through the house.
Mr Aitken said they were looking at a damage bill of more than $100,000.
Another Waurn Ponds family said the aftermath “literally looks like a bomb went off” in their front yard.
Shattered glass and debris covers the floors of Ben and Erin Geer’s home, a neighbour’s wheelie bin on what’s left of their roof.
There’s a jagged shard of glass lodged in a door frame, the garage roof torn off and thrown across their backyard and a heavy roof tile smashed through a window resting just centimetres from where their four-year-old sleeps.
Erin’s blood was also among the shattered glass on the floor, dripping a trail from the living room windows – which exploded during a monster storm – to the front doorway, where she waited to be taken to hospital for stitches to her arm.
The extreme weather also claimed a police divisional van and injured two officers in Wallan about 12.20am when their car skidded off an icy section of road in Watson St and down a 2m embankment.
The police van was towed for mechanical assessment.
Weather bureau duty forecaster Chris Arvier said it was a “wild night”.
“A line of severe storms came through just after midnight with rain, gusty winds and hail to the south,” he said.
Ballarat saw the strongest wind gusts with 98kmh recorded about 12.30am, while Port Phillip Bay saw 85kmh winds and Avalon 78kmh.
Mt Buller recorded the highest rainfall with 37mm, while Springvale had 26mm, Warrnambool 25mm and Melbourne 14mm.
Listener Ellie has sent us these pics from Ironbark St in Waurn Ponds. Been described to us as a “mini cycloneâ€. #melbweather pic.twitter.com/DH3zNEa25J
— MMM's Hot Breakfast (@mmmhotbreakfast) May 19, 2020
Severe storms swept across the state overnight bringing damaging winds, heavy showers and hail. Storms continue in the Northeast, and expected to clear to the east later this morning. Highest rainfall totals so far: 37mm Mt Buller, 26mm Springvale, 25mm Warrnambool #VicWeather pic.twitter.com/evFMEOdeJr
— Bureau of Meteorology, Victoria (@BOM_Vic) May 19, 2020
“A second cold front will move across the state this evening with further showers tonight and cool south-westerly winds behind the front.”
He said small hail was possible but storms and damaging winds were unlikely.
He said Melbourne was heading for a chilly top of 13C on Thursday.
Today also happens to be Wear Orange Wednesday, a national day of thanks for the thousands of SES volunteers who serve the Victorian community 24 hours a day, seven days a week.
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