Victoria’s weather chaos leaves trail of destruction across state
The dangerous conditions which killed a woman and tore an Endeavour Hills family apart are easing, but Victoria’s cold weather is far from over. Snow has fallen in parts of the state as the temperature fell to freezing overnight lows with more rain and wind in store.
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A four-year-old boy continues to fight for life after Friday’s tragic freak accident in the Yarra Ranges which claimed the life of a woman.
A tree fell onto the moving car of an Endeavour Hills family on the Black Spur section of the Maroondah Highway just after 9.30am on Friday.
A three-year-old boy this morning remains critical in the Royal Children’s Hospital.
A second boy, 5, suffered minor injuries and was taken to hospital but not admitted.
The road is now clear but parts of the crushed car — including a Toyota badge and hubcap — can be seen strewn across the ground by the broken tree.
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At least another three large gum trees collapsed about one kilometre up the road from the scene of the fatal crash.
Today, snow is falling on tree ferns and gums further up Black Spur — a popular tourist route to Lake Mountain and Marysville.
The State Emergency Service received over 700 calls because of the wild weather that hit Melbourne on Friday.
The accident came as treacherous weather — high winds and pounding rain, with snow down to low levels — caused chaos across the state, ripping off roofs and sending trees plummeting to the ground. Victoria’s alpine region was blanketed white.
This morning, snow has blanketed parts of the state as Victoria’s cold and blustery weather continues.
The temperature dropped to 5.2C degrees in metropolitan Melbourne overnight, while the temperature slightly further out of town at Coldstream dipped to -0.2C degrees.
Across the state, Ballarat reached freezing point while Mangalore, near Seymour, recorded a temperature of -2C degrees.
In the alpine region, Mt Hotham’s temperature dipped to -7.3C degrees overnight.
Residents in the Daylesford and Dandenong Ranges regions woke up to snow this morning, as the snow level dropped to above 600m.
While the strongest winds have moved away from Melbourne, BOM forecaster Keris Arndt said that the cold weather is set to stick around for a little while longer.
“It’ll be a pretty chilly day today throughout most of the state,” he said.
“We’re looking at a maximum of 11 degrees in the city, but the south-westerly wind will make it feel quite a bit cooler.”
Welcome to our friends at @beaconsfield_fc and @Beacyeagles ! Day for it 👌ðŸ»â˜ƒï¸â„ï¸ #MightyBloods #Bloods19 ⚪ï¸ðŸ”´âšªï¸ @AFL_OE @localfooty @T_Prime2 @WT_Footy @NCreely @PaulAmy375 pic.twitter.com/YBy51LxneJ
— Olinda Ferny Creek (@OFCFNC) August 9, 2019
— Eliza Sum (@ElizaSum) August 9, 2019
2.6mm of rain has fallen across Melbourne so far this morning, with more on the way later in the day.
Dozens of domestic flights were cancelled at Melbourne Airport and a section of Frankston pier snapped off as winds surged to 100kmh on Port Phillip Bay, whipping up storm seas.
Victorians have been warned that it’s not over yet, with the cold, rain and high winds sticking around this weekend.
Kevin Parkin, senior meteorologist for the Bureau of Meteorology, said strong winds would still affect coastal areas. “These winds will still be with us. They might not be as intense in some parts of the state, but still quite gusty,” he said.
Captain Graeme Bates of the Healesville CFA was among the first responders at the Black Spur crash, describing it as a split-second tragedy.
“Whether the ground was too wet or the winds were a bit strong, it’s brought the massive tree tumbling down,” Mr Bates said.
“It’s a split-second thing that’s happened right when they were driving past. You think if they were just a little bit earlier or later … it’s a horrible thing, a thing of nature.”
The tree, about 30m tall, crushed the Toyota sedan the family were travelling in, Capt Bates said.
The woman, 41, who was in the front passenger seat, died at the scene. The male driver, 41, was flown to The Alfred hospital, and was last night said to be in a stable condition.
Capt Bates said the CFA and SES crews had worked frantically to free the occupants.
“When it’s a family you’re there trying your best to get them out as soon as you can,” he said.
That particular section of the 28km Black Spur was notorious for fallen trees, Mr Bates added. About 8.30am, one hour before the deadly crash, a similar-sized gum tree came hurtling down just 50m further down the highway.
Mr Bates said in the past two months there had been two other crashes involving fallen trees there. One left a woman’s car written off when she drove into a fallen tree.
In another incident, a man swerved to avoid a tree trunk and his car ended up 20m down an embankment.
“Driving in the bush with high winds and wet weather, you’ve just to be really careful or postpone your trip,” Mr Bates said.
Mr Bates said his CFA crew were offered counselling after the confronting rescue job, he said.
“It’s really hard … For everyone, you’re there to talk them through it and give them support.”
It comes less than a month after a father and son died in similar freak circumstances when a gum tree fell on their car in Sherbrooke in the Dandenong Ranges.
The tall tree was ripped from the ground and came crashing down on top of their moving car on Monbulk Rd on July 14.
A 46-year-old man and his 10-year-old son both died at the scene.
DOMESTIC FLIGHTS CANCELLED
More than 40 domestic flights have been affected, with strong winds also delaying scores more flights and throwing travel plans into disarray for thousands of passengers.
Melbourne Airport spokesman Grant Smith confirmed 42 flights had been cancelled so far.
“We are advising anyone who is planning on flying today to check the up-to-date schedule on the Melbourne Airport website or contact their airline directly,” Mr Smith said on Friday.
Mr Smith said flights to all major capital cities had been impacted.
“On a typical weekday 60 per cent of all domestic jets will depart Melbourne at some point and Friday afternoon is a particularly busy time,” Mr Smith said.
Mr Smith said a combination of bad weather in both Melbourne and interstate had triggered a knock-on effect of cancellations and delays.
Earlier on Friday, atrocious weather conditions restricted Sydney Airport to a single runway, limiting the number of aircraft that could depart from that city.
“Due to the strength and direction of wind Melbourne has also had periods today where it was also restricted to a single runway,” Mr Smith said.
Weather conditions across south-eastern parts of Australia today may impact your flight. Please check the Qantas Flight Status page for any updates: https://t.co/6TZNOujdF9
— Qantas (@Qantas) August 9, 2019
Strong winds are affecting some of our domestic flights to and from Sydney today. If you're flying with us today, you can read more information here: https://t.co/2D8KsyvhoJ
— Jetstar Airways (@JetstarAirways) August 9, 2019
FRANKSTON PIER ‘SNAPS’
Choppy seas wreaked havoc along Melbourne’s coast with a 20m section of the Frankston Pier snapping off in the waves and some of Melbourne’s iconic beach boxes left damaged.
Frankston Pier, 41km southeast of Melbourne’s CBD, was left partially submerged by rough seas.
— Share your weather pictures: news@heraldsun.com.au
In one video shared on social media part of the pier was seen floating away.
A Frankston local said he witnessed the “end of the Frankston Pier break off”.
“These weather conditions I would describe as cyclonic — extreme winds,” he said.
“The Frankston Pier — what we can see is the end of the pier — has come away with the force of the wind and the waves.
“I’d say a section about 10m long floating down about 400m from the pier.
“It’s just one of those extreme weather events — I’ve worked down here for four years and it’s the most extreme day I’ve experienced.”
Bayside suburbs and the Mornington Peninsula were the hardest hit by the storm-force winds, with “significant numbers of trees coming down and roofs being dislodged as a result of them”, according to SES chief Tim Wiebusch. There have been 718 calls for help to the rescue organisation, with the most call-outs in Sorrento and Rye.
Mr Wiebusch said the broken section of the Frankston Pier had been brought ashore and damage was being assessed.
“Parks Victoria has now secured the pier … and the pier is now closed,” he said.
The weather is also forcing animals to find cover.
A horse became trapped in pine trees at Arthurs Creek, 33km northeast of Melbourne.
The SES and Arthurs Creek CFA were involved in the rescue mission.
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Bureau of Meteorology senior meteorologist Kevin Parkin said at 2.30pm that warnings were still in place but that Melbourne had been through the worst.
“Wind gusts continued across the Melbourne area, recording damage, and have now contracted to the Bass Coast … and the expectation is that those damaging wind gusts will contract to east Gippsland this afternoon and clear the state tonight,” he said.
He described the weather as “something we would expect to happen every five years”.
Not a morning to ride to work! The bike path at Brighton battered by a storm surge and wind gusts up to 87 km/hr. Photo @windjunky - latest warnings https://t.co/mMvr0NqeCD pic.twitter.com/jFAm0KD2QR
— Bureau of Meteorology, Victoria (@BOM_Vic) August 8, 2019
POLAR BLAST FORCES TEMPERATURES DOWN
Hail and thunderstorms lashed Melbourne on Friday.
Destructive gusts raged across the city as temperatures plummeted.
Melbourne was expecting a top of just 11C today but the apparent temperature has been much colder.
The “feels like” temperature dropped to a chilling -6C at Melbourne Airport and -5C at Essendon this morning, according to the Bureau of Meteorology.
The apparent temperature at Mt Hotham in the Victorian alps was -9.3C on Friday morning.
The wild weather first hit parts of the state late on Thursday night.
Severe wind and rain passed over the southwest, from the South Australian border, at 10pm.
A wind gust of 120kmh blasted Cape Otway, on the state’s southwest coast, at 5am.
The Severe Weather Warning has been updated. Damaging winds being observed over southwest/central districts & NE. https://t.co/JrHe5r6hFC Strongest winds in the #Melbourne area expected 5am-9am, particularly E/SE suburbs & Mornington Peninsula. #melbweather #melbourneweather pic.twitter.com/MwaYfrQgXX
— Bureau of Meteorology, Victoria (@BOM_Vic) August 8, 2019
The Mt Dandenong Tourist Rd was closed near Ridge Rd this morning after a tree fell there, blocking both lanes.
A tree was also reportedly brought down near an exit ramp on the Monash Freeway.
Between 10mm and 24mm of rain fell in several areas around Melbourne.
The highest rainfall was recorded at Warburton in the Yarra Valley.
Macedon has awoken in a flurr to a snow flurry. Reports of snow down to 700m this morning across #Victoria, expected to continue today. Know your weather, Know your risk. Stay up to day with warnings and forecasts here: https://t.co/soP1vGYRTu pic.twitter.com/z8R3u4oHbg
— Bureau of Meteorology, Victoria (@BOM_Vic) August 8, 2019
BUMPER SNOWFALL AT THE ALPS
Meanwhile in the Alps, blizzard conditions were thrilling snow lovers, with 30cm of fresh powder falling at Mt Hotham between Wednesday night and Thursday morning.
A further 27cm fell overnight.
“Excellent snowfalls are expected to continue into the weekend with up to 100cm of new snow possible,” Mt Hotham’s Chris Hocking said.
“Snow enthusiasts are looking forward to epic powder conditions in the coming days. The base depth at Mt Hotham is closing in on 1.5m.”
The heavy snowfall is making conditions difficult for motorists trying to reach the resorts.
The Great Alpine Rd is closed between Harrietville and Mt Hotham.
— Additional reporting by Oliver Caffrey, Brianna Travers and Sophie Welsh
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