Wild weather takes its toll on South Gippsland township

A rural hamlet affected by cyclone-like conditions this year has been hit once more by wild weather. And the damage extends beyond fallen trees.

Shock has been replaced by anxiety and stress in the wake of enduring storm conditions in regional Victoria, with a small Gippsland hamlet still recovering from damaging cyclone-like conditions earlier this year.

Mirboo North in South Gippsland, which was hit by a devastating storm in February this year, has once again been plagued by storm damage, including power outages and fallen trees.

Resident and volunteer Bernadine Brullo has worked in the town since the first storms hit in February, co-ordinating volunteer recovery efforts.

She said the general consensus around the town was a sense of anxiety in the face of the enduring storm conditions.

“There have been trees down and damage done, but at this stage these winds and storms keep coming, it’s not safe to send anyone out, and we feel like it hasn’t stopped, we’re still in the storm,” Ms Brullo said.

Mirboo North storm damage from the February 2024 storms. Picture: Yuri Kouzmin

“This time around, the mental health impact and the anxiety levels have been high. People are not knowing where to go.”

The State Emergency Service has responded to about 6000 tree-down emergencies statewide since August 27, with almost 5000 requests for assistance lodged in a 40-hour period from September 1.

According to AusNet, approximately 4800 customers are currently affected by more than 130 outages in progress statewide.

Ms Brullo said Mirboo North’s school was without power for a number of days, with children attending school without electricity until the lights came back on on Thursday.

“We have generators sitting in the street this time around, ready to go so the shops have power,” Ms Brullo said.

“The community is very resilient, but how much can they take? The last six months have been hard going. To throw this into it, it’s quite cruel.”

Mirboo North storm damage and clean up volunteers Bev Cook, from Mirboo North, and Bernadine "Deanie" Brullo, from Thorpdale, have been working non-stop since storms hit the township early this year. Picture: Yuri Kouzmin

Data published by Climate Council in conjunction with Beyond Blue showed since 2019, half of surveyed Australians said their mental health had been affected detrimentally by extreme weather events, such as heatwaves, flooding, bushfires, droughts, and destructive storms and cyclones.

One in five of those surveyed said the disaster they went through had a “major or moderate impact” on their mental health.