Tens of thousands still without power after wild storms
Generators will be given to Victorians affected by last week’s storms — while additional compensation has been flagged for those hit by prolonged outages.
Victoria
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More than two hundred generators will be distributed to Victorians affected by last week’s storms — while additional compensation has been flagged for households and businesses affected by prolonged outages.
Almost half a million Victorians were without power at the height of the wild storms, which saw roofs ripped from homes and trees crushing cars and powerlines.
Victorian Energy, Environment and Climate Change Minister, Lily D’Ambrosio, said residents who have been without power since 29 October — should expect to be contacted by AusNet Services and United Energy to apply for a generator.
“These generators will allow people to return to a better sense of normality by having a back-up power supply for essential appliances like fridges and phones,” Ms D’Ambrosio said.
“The outages have had, and continue to have, a big impact – that’s why we’re providing further financial support for those affected.”
The eight-kilowatt generators will be distributed immediately, and will provide enough power for some lights, a microwave and a small heater.
Victorians impacted by the storms can also apply for the state government’s power outage payment of $1,680 per week.
The state government said it was working with the Commonwealth on additional financial support for businesses without power.
Around 1,500 Victorians are still without electricity from the widespread blackouts.
The damaging winds brought down hundreds of trees crushing cars and powerlines and ripped roofs of homes.
Majority of call-out jobs were to the Frankston, Sorrento and Narre Warren areas.
SES crews are being supported by Fire and Rescue Victoria and Country Fire Association personnel to respond to over 1250 calls for assistance.
Victorian Emergency Management Commissioner Andrew Crisp said emergency services were embracing Saturday’s calm weather to clean up from Friday’s wild weather event.
“This is a major, major job for the SES,” Mr Crisp said.
“There are literally hundreds of emergency services out there today doing this clean up.”
The Frankston SES Unit has received almost 400 requests for assistance, while the Hastings and Sorrento units had also been hit with a spike in demand.
Mr Crisp urged Victorians to be patient, as emergency services continue to deal with a backlog in calls for assistance.
“The number of new jobs are not increasing too much, but there are still wait times,” he said.
Mr Crisp said it was critically important that holiday-makers planned ahead to take into account the damage caused on Friday.
He said a number of popular national parks and camping locations may have been impacted.
Mr Crisp said 200 generators were sitting in a storage facility, and discussions were underway as to whether they would be given to households experiencing long-term power outages.
Mr Weimar said despite the daily press conferences coming to an end, the Covid response wouldn’t change.
“I think the need to do this in a real life manner everyday is probably less significant,” he said.
HOMES FACE DAYS WITHOUT POWER IN WAKE OF STORMS
Winds of up to 146km/h lashed Victoria on Friday, leaving a devastating trail of fallen trees, ripped-off roofs and 526,000 homes without power.
At 9pm, there were about 154,000 households still in darkness across the state, with fears some areas could be without power for days.
Trees were uprooted across most Melbourne suburbs, with some crashing on to power lines, cars and homes, as well as buckling footpaths.
The State Emergency Service fielded 2518 requests from residents seeking help with property damage.
The busiest units were in Frankston, Ballarat and Whitehorse.
The strongest wind gusts were 146km/h recorded at Wilsons Promontory and 143km/h at Mt William in the Grampians.
Blasts of up to 119km/h were registered at Melbourne Airport, 115km/h at St Kilda and 122km/h at Frankston.
Emergency Services Minister Jaclyn Symes said no injuries had been reported as a result of the wild weather.
The chaos disrupted rail and tram networks for most of the day.
Debris and traffic light outages threw the city’s road system into disarray as many Melburnians were preparing to visit regional Victoria for the first time since August.
It was feared that any continuing loss of power in regional centres could hamper the operation of accommodation and tourism businesses.
Residents, businesses and councils last night were assessing the extent of damage, which included:
— A large elm tree tumbled over near park st, Carlton, not far from where a Melbourne university professor was killed by a falling elm in 2019;
— Winds toppled 3.7-tonne shipping containers at the port of Melbourne;
— Parks Victoria crews were evaluating damage to tracks and recreation sites fearing some popular spots may be unsafe for the weekend influx of visitors;
— The roof of a block of public housing flats in stokes st, Port Melbourne, was shredded;
— Sheets of roofing iron flew across St Kilda Rd, stopping traffic and sending pedestrians running for cover.
— The root systems of many big trees were weakened by higher than average rainfall in October.
In Cockatoo, east of Melbourne, a selfless SES volunteer and his terrified family narrowly escaped tragedy when a big tree crushed their Cockatoo home.
Emerald SES controller Ben Owen was responding to calls for help after wild winds lashed the area only to receive a phone call from his “petrified” wife, Melissa, saying a huge pine tree on a neighbouring property had collapsed on their Haylock Ave home.
Mr Owen was forced to break windows to rescue his wife and two daughters, Katherine, 12, and Eliza, 14, who were trapped inside their bedrooms.
“We are shocked and it is overwhelming,” Mr Owen said.
“We will have to bulldoze the house and rebuild, there is nothing to salvage. But fortunately we are all alive. Someone was watching over them.”
Across Melbourne, the public transport network experienced significant disruptions, with all but three metro rail lines suspended.
Replacement bus services were still operating on eight rail lines late on Friday because of fallen trees and power outages.
Coaches also replaced V/Line trains for part or all of the trip for Bairnsdale-Traralgon, Seymour-Shepparton and Bendigo-Echuca services.
Tram services were also halted and buses forced to detour around road closures.
Motorists were warned to drive with caution because of continuing traffic lights outages. Damage to trees, especially in country areas, created the risk of fallen power lines that could take days to repair.
The Snap Send Solve reporting app recorded its busiest 24-hour period in Victoria with 1875 reports – a 300 per cent increase.
The app, used by many councils to monitor neighbourhood problems, reported the most cases in Point Cook, Craigieburn, Caroline Springs, Dandenong, Keysborough and Mentone.
Reports also spiked in the city centre and St Kilda during the peak of the wind squalls.
Most reports were for fallen trees, debris and blocked roads.
A series of homes in bayside Chelsea copped the full force of the cyclonic winds.
Wild winds also tore off the roof of the Croydon Baseball Club batting cage, which landed 25m away.
SCHOOLS LEFT WITHOUT POWER
Schools were forced to hold VCE exams in the dark in the aftermath of the storms that battered Melbourne and much of Victoria.
Hundreds of schools were closed across the city due to power outages but most did not cancel the VCE Biology exam at 9am and Further maths exam at 2pm.
After coping with eight months of home schooling, repeated pandemic shutdowns, and an earthquake, embattled VCE students sat exams in “twilight” conditions in storm-ravaged schools on Friday morning.
Others were unable to make it to campus due to damaged homes, fallen trees and downed power lines, and are expected to receive a derived score.
Read the full story here
SES VOLUNTEER’S HOME CRUSHED BY TREE
A selfless SES volunteer and his family narrowly escaped tragedy when a large tree fell on their Cockatoo home on Thursday night.
SES volunteer Ben Owen had gone to help neighbours after wild winds lashed the area only to receive a phone call from his wife saying a huge tree had collapsed on their Haylock St home.
Mr Owen was forced to break windows to rescue his wife and two daughters, aged 12 and 14, who were trapped inside their home.
Read the full article here.
SNAP SEND SOLVE APP OVERWHELMED
The Snap Send Solve reporting app recorded its busiest 24-hour period in Victoria ever with 1875 reports — a 300 per cent rise.
Many councils use the app to monitor neighbourhood problems such as fallen trees and dumped rubbish.
The most reports were lodged in Point Cook, Craigieburn, Caroline Springs, Dandenong, Keysborough and Mentone.
Reports also spiked in the CBD and St Kilda.
Most reports were for fallen trees, debris and blocked roads.
Snap Send Solve founder Danny Gorog said the app helped authorities know where clean-ups were needed.
“Reporting through Snap Send Solve allows authorities to understand where to direct resources
while freeing up emergency services to focus on urgent issues,” he said.
St Kilda Rd, St Kilda. Avoid if possible! #melbourneweatherpic.twitter.com/qy3RCtwV9A
— Nichola Young (@niccyoung) October 28, 2021
SES Victoria spokesman Jamie Devenish said volunteers had a busy night with calls starting around Ballarat and Bendigo and then moving down to greater Melbourne as the wind pushed through.
“We’re still seeing those damaging winds impact right across Melbourne at the minute, in particular the leafy east so Whitehouse, Emerald, Knox even out to Northcote and Broadmeadows, so a widespread impact across Melbourne,” he said.
Mr Devenish urged patience with huge demand at the SES call centre.
SURGE IN LOST ANIMALS
Frightened pets have fled their homes during Melbourne’s wild storm, with the Lost Dogs’ Home inundated with stray pets.
Animal ambulance drivers worked around the clock to bring in 16 dogs and cats that had found themselves displaced overnight.
Lost Dogs’ Home spokeswoman Suzana Talevski said that was an increase of about 400 per cent.
“We expect that number to climb today as more dogs and cats are found throughout the day,” Ms Talevski said.
“These animals are scared and confused so we will be doing everything we can, as we always do, to reunite them with their families.
“We ask everyone out there to please check on your pets and check your properties and surroundings for pets that may have escaped because of wind damage to residences.
“We are working around the clock to make sure we get as many animals home as quick as possible.
This is also a good reminder to make sure your pet is microchipped. It’s the best and most effective tool we have to making sure these very important reunions take place.’’
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