Surfing Tasmania: ‘Best conditions in a decade’, boss says
The persistent southerlies straight from Antarctica may be causing havoc elsewhere in the state, but in the south and east it’s creating the best surfing conditions in a decade. SEE THE PHOTOS>>>
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‘Best conditions in a decade’: Tassie surfing boss
Sunday, June 12
Surfing Tasmania executive officer Shayne Clark says “thousands” of avid surfers have and will continue to take advantage of what promises to be a dream run on the water for up to five days.
Mr Clark said the southerly weather pattern was pushing “intense”, heavy swell from the Southern Ocean towards Tasmania’s south and east coasts, with surfers racing to the Hobart points to take advantage of the conditions.
“It’s unusual, we don’t normally get long-period swells that produce surf over five days, it’s quite a treat for southern surfers who are out in their thousands,” Mr Clark said.
“Straight up the East Coast will be heavily surfed also.
“It’s been a long time, 10 years at least since we’ve seen a five-day swell like this, usually it’s just one or two-day swells.
“There’s certainly been bigger point surfs, but in terms of their duration this is the best in a decade.”
Mr Clark estimated the wave height off the Hobart points to be between 1–2.5m.
Bureau of Meteorology duty forecaster Michael Conway said there were “significant wave heights” off the Tasman Peninsula of up to 5–8m before they entered the bay.
“There’s such a southerly aspect to the airflow coming straight off from Antarctica, it’s moving so quickly over such a long distance that when the swells arrive there’s quite a bit of power in them,” Mr Conway said.
“It’s easing at the moment, decaying to 4-6m on Sunday night, down to 3–4m by Monday night and then gradually easing off.”
Full list of Tasmanian road closures/hazards, power outages
Monday, June 12
Hundreds of homes in Northern Tasmania remain without power after wild weather lashed the region and caused widespread outages over the weekend.
TasNetworks crews will be working throughout the day to restore electricity for thousands of Tasmanians, with most outages in the North and North West not expected to be fixed until 6pm.
An outage affecting 364 people in Calder, Henrietta, Mount Hicks, Oldina and Yolla is expected to be restored around 4pm, according to the TasNetworks website.
It is estimated more than 250 people in Bradys Lake, Bronte Park, Dee and London Lakes will have to wait until at least 7pm for their power to return.
It comes as calm weather is forecast across the state – Hobart is set for a cloudy day with a maximum temperature of 12C, while snow could fall above 1000m on kunanyi/Mt Wellington.
Launceston and Burnie will also have partly cloudy days with temperatures rising to 11C and 12C respectively.
Sunday, June 12
Large swathes of northern Tasmania remain without power this morning after Saturday’s wild and woolly weather which saw eight climbers rescued on kunanyi/Mt Wellington and a 54-year-old woman crushed to death by a falling tree south of Devonport.
It comes as Tasmania Police reveal there are dozens of road closures across the state it is aware of, as well as many more hazardous roads which should be driven only with extreme caution.
TasNetworks’ power outages map show a band of outages stretching southeast from Wynyard in the North down almost to Campbell Town to the south, affecting thousands of customers.
The East Coast was also hit hard, with outages current from near St Helens south to Douglas River and west to Fingal and Mathinna.
While some outages are expected to be fixed by Sunday afternoon, others can expect “long delays” with several powerless days looming.
TasNetworks issued a statement on the “extreme” weather event, which caused “significant and widespread damage” across the state.
“The main priority of our crews is to make affected areas safe for the community before they can commence repairs and restoration,” it said.
“We ask customers to be prepared for longer outages, possibly over multiple days.
“These longer delays may particularly affect those customers in the northwest... we have deployed extra resources (in this area) from across the state to assist.”
At 9am, TasNetworks advised customers in the Burnie/Wynyard area to conserve water until further notice due to power outages affecting supply
Meanwhile, Tasmania Police has updated its list of all closed and hazardous roads it is aware of.
As at 10am Sunday morning, the following roads were closed, according to Tasmania Police’s community notices:
– Beulah Road (near Beulah Back Road) and Davies Road are currently closed. Powerlines and trees.
– Bridle Track Road, Kimberley is closed. Tree over the road.
– Castra Road, tree over the road near Watts Lookout. Council attending to clear.
– Cethana Road, Cethana due to fallen trees.
– Claude Road, Gowrie Park is closed due to tree on road.
– Cradle Mountain Road from Moina to Leary’s Corner due to fallen trees and powerlines.
– Cressy motorists are advised that Liffey Road and Blackwood Creek Road are limited to essential travel only as a number of trees have fallen, and council is attempting to clear the debris.
– Hartz Road: Closed due to snow
– Highland Lakes Road to Lake Secondary Road will be closed till further notice. Unable to access due to power pole and lines down as well as trees, TasNetworks to attend. Snow clearing to commence when access available.
– Kermode Road between Sheffield and Formby is closed due to powerlines on road.
– Lake Dobson Road: closed due to ice and snow.
– Lowana Road, Gunns Plains is closed near 160. Access through Marshalls Bridge Road. Powerlines on road.
– Murchison Highway from Fingerpost to Takone Road due to fallen trees.
– Nook Road, Sheffield is closed. Powerlines over the road.
– Old Paradise Road between Kermode Street and Formby Road, Sheffield is closed due to powerlines and trees over the road.
– Pinnacle Road, Mount Wellington – Closed at Bracken lane. Snow clearing in progress to provide access to the Springs. Keep checking for updates.
– Sheffield Road between Claude Road to Gowrie Park due to fallen trees and powerlines.
– Spellans Road, Upper Castra to Wilmot.
– Swamp Road, Sprent approximately in from Castra Road, junction Sprent the road is closed.
– Talbot Street, Fingal is closed. Powerlines on road. SES in attendance.
– West Mooreville Road, Ridgley is closed. Tree over road.
As at 10am Sunday morning, the following roads were extremely hazardous, and should be driven with caution and a 4WD, according to Tasmania Police’s community notices:
– Belvoir Road: Ice and snow patches on Black Range. 4WD only from Leary’s Corner to Murchison Hwy
– Ben Lomond Road. Snow chains advisable.
– Dolcoath Road, Moina. Powerlines are very low all along the road. Unsuitable for large vehicles or trucks.
– Dove Lake Road at Cradle Mountain will be open to 4WD vehicles only from the Ranger Station to Dove Lake.
– East Tamar Highway at Mowbray, tree partially blocking roadway near University Way.
– Gordon River Road, light snow from Tim Shea to Scotts Peak Road.
– Highland Lakes Road, snow and ice from Bakers Tier to Miena. 4WD only. Extreme caution.
– Huon Highway, clearing completed, Sandfly to Grove.
– Irish Town Road, St Marys. Powerlines on road and tree fallen over.
– Lake St. Clair Road, snow and ice throughout, use extreme caution.
– Lyell Highway, snow and ice from Wayatinah to Derwent Bridge. 4WD only. Extreme caution.
– Marlborough Road, frost and ice, use with caution. 4WD only.
– Murchinson Highway, road clear between Fingerpost and Tullah. Road closed from Fingerpost to Takone Rd due to fallen trees
– Pine Road: South Riana 1km back from the shop past Jansens Road – large tree across the whole road. Road likely to be closed, emergency services are attending. Motorists advised not to attempt to drive under the tree due to the high safety risks.
– Poatina Road, thick snow on road, 4WD only. Extreme caution. Snow clearing to commence.
– Preolenna Road near Pages Road intersection. Very large tree on the road. SES attending.
– Sheffield Road, storm damage, trees and debris on road. Avoid unnecessary travel.
– Takone Road: Tree and power lines down over the road between junction of Chromys Road and West Calder Road turn-off. Council and Tas networks aware and attending.
– Trevallyn Road: tree across the road near North Bank and South Esk Roads and power lines down. TasNetworks and Council attending.
– Waratah Road, road Clear of snow & ice. Caution due to trees and debris.
– Whitemore Road, tree blocking both lanes between the Bass Highway and Meander Valley Road. Council attending.
TV stations down across Southern Tasmania
Saturday, June 11
Commercial television stations are down across Southern Tasmania on a night residents have been urged to stay indoors.
Pulse Hobart are reporting the free to air television services are gone after a reported generator failure on kunanyi/Mt Wellington.
Commercial TV services went off the air in Hobart for approximately four hours overnight as a result of a power outage on the mountain, before another power outage took services off-air once again shortly before 4pm this afternoon.
A generator on the mountain is designed to kick in on the mountain when power is lost.
ABC and SBS television, which are transmitted from the other tower on Mt Wellington, are not affected by the outage, and TasNetworks say damaged power lines are the cause of the power outage affecting Mt Wellington this evening, with no ETA currently available for the restoration of services.
Tasmanians targeted by Covid scam
Saturday, June 11
The Department of Health has revealed a new Covid-19 scam is doing the rounds, wherein unsuspecting Tasmanians are offered free RATs from Medicare in exchange for covering the cost of postage.
It comes as the state government revealed there were 593 new cases in the 24 hours until 10am Saturday.
A departmental representative told the Mercury it had “recently been made aware of a scam that is currently active involving an unsolicited text from a fake Medicare source”.
“The scam involves offering the recipient free RAT tests in return for only the cost of postage,” the representative said.
“People are reminded to remain alert to unexpected messages or messages with suspicious details.
“Rapid Antigen Tests are also freely available for symptomatic people and close contacts in Tasmania so there is no need to fall prey to an SMS scam.”
It is not known whether the scam is also being perpetrated on the mainland.
The Mercury is aware of at least one instance where a Tasmanian woman received a call from a scammer purporting to be from Medicare promising free RATs in exchange for postage and gave her details.
Meanwhile, there are currently 3818 active coronavirus cases in Tasmania with two patients in intensive care.
Two house fires overnight
Saturday, June 10
The Tasmania Fire Service were called to two house fires overnight, with one home on the edge of Hobart fully engulfed on arrival.
Crews from Risdon Vale, Glenorchy and Clarence attended a structure fire in Fuchsia Rd, Risdon Vale just after midnight.
On arrival the crews found the house to be fully engulfed and worked to put it out.
The occupants of the home were able to safely flee and no one was injured.
The cause of the blaze is yet to be determined, with Tasmania Police’s Forensic Services and the Fire Scene Examiner to commence investigations.
Fire crews from New Norfolk, Bridgewater and Magra were also called to a fire in Quarry St, New Norfolk just after midnight.
On arrival crews found a fire in the wall cavity of a unit and were able to put it out safely.
Truckie choppered to hospital after serious crash
Friday, June 9
A truck driver has been flown by emergency helicopter to the Royal Hobart Hospital after a serious crash.
Emergency services were called to the intersection of Swanwick Rd and Coles Bay Rd, Coles Bay around 11.30am this morning after a single vehicle crash.
Ambulance Tasmania paramedics treated the male driver of the truck at the scene before he was flown by the Westpac Rescue Helicopter to RHH.
The driver suffered non life-threatening injuries.
The intersection was closed for nearly two hours while emergency services worked at the scene.
Teen charged over crash
Wednesday, June 8
A teenager who was struck by a car last month while riding a bike in Claremont has been slapped with five serious charges in relation to the incident.
A 17-year-old youth will be proceeded against for several offences relating to the serious crash in on May 5.
The crash between a car and petrol bike on Hilton Rd around 2.30pm, resulted in the youth who was riding the bike, sustaining serious injuries.
As part of the police investigation, the youth will be proceeded against through the Youth Justice System for the offences; drive whilst not the holder of a driver licence, use unregistered motor vehicle, using a vehicle with no premium cover, ride motor bike when not wearing helmet and disobey give way sign.
Police search for missing man
Wednesday, June 8
Police are appealing for public assistance to locate Mr Paul Douglas Warmsley.
Mr Warmsley, 51, is from Summerhill and was last seen at approximately 10.30am on Sunday, May 8.
Mr Warmsley is Caucasian and 183cm tall with a heavy build, blue eyes, fair receding/shaved hair, a grey goatee beard, and a scorpion tattoo on his neck.
He was last seen wearing a blue checked flannelette shirt and grey track pants.
Police are today utilising the police rescue helicopter to conduct an aerial search in the Duck Reach and Cataract Gorge area of northern Tasmania.
Any information as to the whereabouts of Mr Warmsley can be provided to police on 131 444 or Crimestoppers on 1800 333 000 or at crimestopperstas.com.au.
Information can be provided anonymously
Serious crash in Franklin
Wednesday, June 8
A young Tasmanian man is in a serious condition at the Royal Hobart Hospital after a single-vehicle crash in the early hours of this morning.
Tasmania Police, Ambulance Tasmania and Tasmania Fire Service were called to the Houn Highway, Franklin just before 2am after reports of a crash.
The road was closed in both directions for two hours as emergency services worked at the scene.
Paramedics treated a 23-year-old male at the scene before he was transported to the Royal Hobart Hospital with serious injuries. No other person as injured in the crash.
Tasmania Police have reminded motorists to drive with caution due to the adverse road conditions and to expect ice and snow on all elevated roads.
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