UPDATE: Woodleigh, Korumburra, Loch, Bena, Outtrim, Jeetho, Kernot, Jumbunna, Moyarra, Korumburra South, Glen Alvie, Kongwak, Krowera, Whitelaw, Leongatha, Poowong, Kardella South, Ruby, Grantville, Foster, Fish Creek, Tarwin Lower, Walkerville, Waratah Bay, Yanakie, Sandy Point are still without power, with AusNet currently estimating power will be back around 5pm this evening. Excluding a few businesses, including Kelly's Bakery in Korumburra running on generators, most are closed.
Parts of Koonwarra, Leongatha, Meeniyan, Stony Creek, Buffalo, Tarwin, Neerena, Middle Tarwin are also without power with current estimates 1.05pm for power restoration, whilst Nyora and Poowong are still under investigation.
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FROM the mountains to the sea, the impact of a week of unprecedented windy weather has played havoc with trees and power supplies, access for school buses, trucks and general traffic, forced the cancellation of community events, impacted sporting results and caused significant property damage.
One of the worst affected areas has been the surf beach at Inverloch where the beach access ramp at the Inverloch Surf Lifesaving Club Carpark has been eroded 1.5 metres in less than a week and sea water is threatening to break through near the intersection of Surf Parade and Cape Paterson-Inverloch Road, potentially impacting houses and infrastructure.
President of the South Gippsland Conservation Society, Ed Thexton, surveyed the area on Monday afternoon.
“The tide was going down, and the weather was improving and that may be the extent of the damage for now but what this is, is a call to action. It can’t be ignored,” Mr Thexton said.
He urged those interested to read the new Cape to Cape Resilience Plan on the Engage Vic website and consider completing the survey or making a submission.
The impact was widespread, however, and some of the most damaging weather came through in the early hours of Monday morning, about the time that wind speeds hit 146km/h at Wilsons Promontory at 2.30am.
Among the worst affected districts in South Gippsland on Monday was the Foster-Toora-Welshpool area where there have been reports of homes losing their roofs, a power pole blocking the South Gippsland Highway at Toora and at the Royal Standard Hotel in the town, a large section of the historic front verandah was lost.
“Yeah, it was wild. My manager was checking on the building until about 4 o’clock this morning but it just became too dangerous to go outside,” said Toora hotel publican Steve Swan.
“So, we think the verandah has gone between 4.30am and 5.30am. We’re just waiting for the SES to come out and tell us if it’s still structurally safe or not.”
A freak hail storm also hit Foster in the early hours, damaging roofs and allowing water into the ceilings of a number of units in the Linton Court Retirement Village.
By lunchtime yesterday, there were still thousands of AusNet customers in Gippsland without power, many of them along the main line between Drouin and Sale, but also in South Gippsland.
General Manager Communications and Brand, Karen Winsbury, reported that “the wind has caused significant power outages overnight, with approximately 112,000 people without power.”
“The impacts are across the network, but the towns of Moe and Warragul are without power.
“We have crews in the field currently assessing the damage. The weather is still affecting the network, and it is very hazardous, so this may take a little longer than usual.
“We will update estimated restoration times on our Outage Tracker once we've made damage assessments. In terms of the power coming back on, some of these may take longer than 24 hours, particularly in more remote areas.
“We urge people to keep away from any fallen or damaged powerlines and assume any wires are live and to report new faults and emergencies online at www.ausnetservices.com.au/outages/report-a-fault or on 13 17 99.
Among the worst outages locally was a ‘Critical Outage’ affecting the Foster Sub-Station supplying power to Welshpool, Binginwarri, Wonyip, Hedley, Toora North, Woorarra East, Toora, Agnes, Hazel Park, Mount Best, Foster, Grand Ridge, Wonga, and Boolarong.
Power was also out at Mirboo North on Monday, where the town’s monthly community market was cancelled on Saturday, as if they haven’t copped enough after the devastating storm of February 13 this year.
Parts of Korumburra, Leongatha, Wonthaggi and Phillip Island were also impacted with customers in the Poowong-Nyora, Grantville, Loch and other areas affected.
Sandy Point Community Centre President Daniel Millton took a walk around the town on Monday morning and saw trees down everywhere, some blocking access along roads in the town.
“The wind’s been horrendous, up to almost 150km/h again last night at Wilsons Prom and 158km/h out on nearby islands so we’ve certainly had winds gusting to around the 100km/h mark here as well.
“Reports of building damage here are likely to be from trees. The fence near the parking lot has been blown over but it’s mostly trees as far as I can see.”
Mr Millton said that while some of the school buses out of the area had been cancelled in the morning, parents were advised that no school buses would run out of Foster on Monday afternoon.
“They told us to come in and pick up the kids this afternoon. It’s just too dangerous for the buses to run,” he said.
Power was off again at Poowong and Nyora on Monday morning with customers there advised it was unlikely to be restored until 7.30pm Tuesday.
Power was off over a wide area from Poowong and Nyora through to Drouin and Warragul.
“There were no traffic lights in Warragul and Aldi was closed there also Coles and Woolies in Drouin,” said Poowong resident Jim Forbes.
“It’s likely to be gum trees falling across powerlines. Why they continue to plant gumtrees in residential areas I don’t know. They’re simply not compatible and the insurance companies will start having a say about it before long,” he said.
Meanwhile, early commuters and those driving on the South Gippsland Highway between Leongatha and Korumburra on Monday morning had to navigate around fallen trees in several places, with the road down to half a lane in places until crews arrived to clear a path.
John Schelling at Evans Petroleum said the truck scheduling manager had to make a number of changes to fuel routes because of blocked roads.
“Some of the bulk trucks headed for Melbourne had to come back to depot until the roads were cleared and we had to find alternative routes into Yarram and a couple of other locations in Gippsland. Power was off to the petrol station in Mirboo North,” Mr Schelling said.
Among the roads that were closed or affected by debris were the following:
* South Gippsland Highway (Gwyther Siding Road, Beilbys Road, Leongatha South)
* South Gippsland Highway (Between Foster and Toora)
* Bass Highway (Between Inverloch and Leongatha)
* Grand Ridge Road (Between Hollins Road and Leongatha-Yarragon Road).
* Dollar-Woorarra West Road Foster North
* Drouin-Korumburra Road
* Main South Road Poowong East
* Meeniyan-Mirboo North Road
* Louise Simon Court, Leongatha
Gale-force winds across the weekend also impacted football and netball finals, especially at Maffa and Bairnsdale on Saturday and Sunday, where Wonthaggi and Leongatha teams were both engaged.
Football goalposts swung wildly and light towers waved worryingly in the wind as both footballers and netballers had trouble hitting their targets and scoring their goals.
But, as we saw overnight on Monday morning, the worst was still to come.
The Bureau of Meteorology is calling for winds (Leongatha) to drop to speeds of 35km/h to 55 km/h on Tuesday and stick around, but moderate further during the week.
