THE storm cell which ripped through South Gippsland a couple of weeks ago didn’t play favourites.
While most of the damage on Tuesday afternoon, February 13, from tornado-style winds, was seen in and around Mirboo North, there were pockets of damage elsewhere, through the Strzeleckis, between Poowong and Yarram, and also with trees down across a widespread area.
One location where a number of large trees were brought down was on the bushy outskirts of Leongatha, particularly where the ‘Mushroom Lady’ Erin Patterson’s house is located.
Several large eucalypt trees were brought down across the road leading up to Ms Patterson’s house, in the nearby paddocks and also around her 1 hectare bush block, although it is not known whether there was any damage caused to the house.
Piles of dead branches have now been gathered up around the Patterson property, indicating a contractor has been engaged to keep the site tidy, but several of the trees and branches still lie fallen near the road and covering the nature strip indicating significant damage from the storm.
It’s hardly surprising that damage would be widespread with the meteorological mast at the proposed Delburn Wind Farm, near Mirboo North, recording peak gusts of 154km/h on the evening of Tuesday, February 13 when the destructive storm cell whipped through.
“Wind speeds in Mirboo North would have been much higher given the amount of serious damage in the town at the epicentre of the storm,” said a spokesperson for the Delburn Wind Farm.
Erin Patterson, 49, who is presently on remand in the Dame Phyllis Frost Correctional Centre, was arrested at her Leongatha property in early November last year, and was charged over the deaths of her former in-laws Don and Gail Patterson, as well as Gail’s sister Heather Wilkinson.
She has also been charged with the attempted murder of Ian Wilkinson, the pastor of the Korumburra Baptist Church, the only survivor of the allegedly poisoned lunch, and prior attempts to allegedly kill her estranged husband Simon, on four occasions.
Ms Patterson has denied any wrongdoing.
She is due to face court in May.
