Storm shock: No injuries but there could have been, they say
Residents of Leongatha and drivers caught in the storm cell which hit the town around 7pm last Saturday night have variously described it as a “hurricane” and the worst conditions they’ve ever driven in. Now other concerns have emerged.
RESIDENTS of Leongatha and drivers caught in the storm cell which hit the town around 7pm last Saturday night have variously described it as a “hurricane” and the worst conditions they’ve ever driven in.
Among them was Lisa Silverlock of Eden Crescent who posted a video on social media, with suitable commentary, as the wind, rain and heavy hail hit in ferocious style.
“Look out, that’s rain, get in get in, that’s hail, out of nowhere, that’s actually a tornado, far out, power's out, holy cow…” said shocked members of household.
Speaking on Channel 9 news, Ms Silverloch said the ordeal wasn’t over once the storm had passed by.
“We had no power. We needed to charge our phones so we went to Wonthaggi for the night,” she said.
Immediately after the short, sharp blast, the emergency calls to the Leongatha SES flooded in with trees down across roads, ceilings collapsing and incidents of inundation.
“Our first call came in at about 7pm for huge tree on the South Gippsland Highway at ‘Condoluci’s’. That was our biggest,” said Leongatha SES Controller Teresa Jans.
“The police came out and controlled the traffic and managed to keep one lane open, but I’ve got to say, there wasn’t much courtesy shown by drivers. We’ve got to be better than that.”
Ms Jans said it concerned her that police had to step back out of the way of on-coming cars because people weren’t prepared to slow down and be a little bit patient.
She said emergency services needed to be able to show up and get the job done without being worried about getting run over by impatient drivers.
“You don’t want to be throwing in a negative, but it needs to be said. We’ve got to be looking after our emergency services.”
Overall, three Leongatha SES teams of 12 people in the field and three sharing communications roles, attended to nine fallen trees or branches, five incidents of building damage, including flooded ceilings inside and roofs collapsed with water outside, needing to come back next morning for two SWAH jobs (safe working at heights) with ropes on roofs.
There was one rescue (no details available) with Leongatha CFA and Foster SES also attending to offer assistance.
The storm wasn’t quite so ferocious in Inverloch however the local SES cleared two trees from roads on Saturday night, and attended the scene of an accident on Sunday morning in Inverloch, where a car had taken out a pole in front of the newsagents in A’Beckett Street.
