By Callum Ludwig
Multiple houses in the Yarra Valley and Upper Yarra were left severely damaged by large trees brought down by wet and windy weather.
Local SES and CFA crews started receiving calls to incidents on Saturday and have been continuing to attend to emergencies through to Monday with ongoing storms continuing to pose a risk to residents.
Upper Yarra SES Deputy Controller Hannah Brunton said a lot of larger trees fell this time compared to previous storms.
“Luckily, no one has been hurt but we’ve had a few residents that have had to go into temporary accommodation because of damage to their houses and the person whose car was smashed had parked their car there only 20 minutes before the tree fell, so there have been close calls.”
“We’ve had to rely on Council to help us out a lot because there’s been a lot of trees that we just physically don’t have the resources to get rid of, so we’ve had heavy machinery come out. It has been spread out over the weekend as well, it hasn’t come all at once but has stopped and started, often just as you kick your shoes off,” she said.
One particular house in Yarra Junction has had a massive tree smash through, narrowly avoiding the majority of the home. Other residents have also been sharing their hairy moments with trees across roads, water leaking through their rooves, while there were many road closures and detours in place.
Ms Brunton said the storms have been unpredictable.
“We’ve been called all over the place. Normally it localises to a particular area, but it has really been everywhere,” she said.
“It has mostly been calls to trees down, particularly on cars and houses from Yellingbo all the way to Gentle Annie, one side to the other.”
In the 24 hours to 6.00am Monday 21 November, the Victoria State Emergency Service (VICSES) received 491 Requests For Assistance (RFAs) from Victorian communities, which included 313 downed trees, 40 calls relating to building damage, and 17 incidents relating to flood.
A Severe Weather Warning remains in place for damaging winds for much of Victoria, with the potential for gusts up to 110km/h. Elevated areas such as those in the Upper Yarra are likely to be affected, with winds forecast to ease during the evening
VICSES asks you to:
Check loose items such as outdoor settings, trampolines and umbrellas are secured.
Stay indoors and away from windows.
Do not park under trees. With the majority of calls in the last 24 hours being downed trees, and gusty conditions set to continue over saturated ground, so expecta continuing hazard from falling trees.
Drive to the conditions. There may be debris across the road such as fallen powerlines, trees, and tree branches.
