Victorian storms: Falling tree impact ‘sounded like bomb’

Residents of Victoria’s storm-ravaged Dandenong Ranges are facing a prolonged clean up.

Braeden Tairi, his wife Bri and their baby boy Levi had a near death experience at their home in Kalorama. Picture: NCA NewsWire / Wayne Taylor

Braeden Tairi has trouble deciding what was worse: having a giant tree smash through his roof while eating dinner or the terrifying night he and his young family endured, huddled in their car as the storms continued to rage around them.

The 35-year-old feels lucky to be alive in the wake of the freak storm that swept across Victoria last Wednesday, rendering his Kalorama home in the Dandenong Ranges uninhabitable.

“It was a neighbour’s tree that came down on us around 8.30pm and the entire roof collapsed in. Beams and all were snapped in half,” Mr Tairi said.

“Our nine-month-old son was asleep in his room at the time the tree fell, thank God, and the sound didn’t wake him up even though it sounded like a bomb had gone off.

“We left the house immediately but realised there was no escaping the mountain, with literally thousands of trees down. We eventually parked at the Mount Dandenong shops and spent the night in the car.”

Five days on and fallen trees continue to litter the landscape and block roads. At least 40,000 homes have suffered lengthy power outages, with some residents told that it could take up to a fortnight to restore their power.

The Victorian SES had more than 9000 requests for assistance across the Dandenong Ranges and Yarra Valley. Picture: NCA NewsWire / Wayne Taylor

The Victorian SES said that it had its busiest week in the history of the service, with more than 9000 requests for assistance across the Dandenong Ranges and Yarra Valley.

More than 6500 insurance claims have been lodged so far, with the damage bill from the catastrophic storm and subsequent flooding expected to climb into the tens of millions.

Fellow Kalorama residents Leigh and Julia Doddy moved from Sunbury on the western fringe of Melbourne just two months ago in pursuit of, ironically, a tree change.

Their garage was crushed by a large tree on the night of the storm but surprisingly their car survived relatively unscathed.

“We’re on two acres of property and there’s about 10 40-to-50m trees laying in my yard,” Mr Doddy said.

“It looks like we’ve been testing missiles.”