Pakenham and surrounds experienced significant damage and many parts are still without power as a storm which brought severe winds hit Melbourne.
The storm that passed through Melbourne on Tuesday 13 February had recorded wind gusts over 120km/h – according to Weatherzone reports – and resulted in about 540,000 lighting strikes within a 600-kilometre radius of Melbourne.
The storm hit Pakenham and surrounds in the afternoon, joining the hundreds of thousands across the state who spent the evening without power.
Emerald SES was among the state’s busiest units, with 206 callouts overnight.
Pakenham Road was closed off at the end of Army Road in the afternoon as a felled tree blocked off the road and damaged powerlines.
Traffic lights for the intersection of Army Road and Princes Highway were down but came back online on Wednesday morning.
Victoria State Emergency Service (VICSES) said they received more than 3040 calls for assistance between midday on Tuesday to 9am the following morning.
Electricity provider Ausnet’s Outage Tracker showed thousands within the local area without power with no estimated time set for power to return as of Wednesday mid-morning.
According to a Facebook post posted at 9.30pm on Tuesday 13 February, about 261,000 Ausnet customers were left without power following the storm.
“A combination of extreme temperatures, strong winds and thousands of lightning strikes have caused damage to poles, wires and other electrical infrastructure,” an Ausnet spokesperson said.
“As the weather event is still passing through the state and across our network, we anticipate that repairing the damaged network will take multiple days.
“We will have a better understanding of how long restoration efforts will take over the next 24 hours and we will communicate updates with our customers via our Facebook page, direct SMS and media outlets.”
If you are a life support customer, please activate your emergency plan and call the life support priority line anytime on 1800 818 832.
If you require emergency services, call the SES on 13 25 00 and stay away from fallen or damaged wires or assets and assume any wires are live.
Car port flies in storm
Drivers going through Leppitt Road would have seen what looked to be a roof resting awkwardly right on the kerb going up to Upper Beaconsfield. This is the roof of a car port which was picked up by the wind and flew over the property’s house to stop just clear of the road.
The residents of the property, Scott and Kerri only moved from Officer to the rolling hills of Leppitt Road less than a month ago. The last thing they expected was sections of their house becoming airborne.
Scott was in the car port when it violently gave way, prompting him to run for cover.
The roof’s tumble damaged another section by the car port, but thankfully left the main part of residence damage free. The council has been contacted for removing the roof off the Leppitt Road.
Though the storm brought a major inconvenience to the beginning of their renovations, they remain chipper and are thankful to be one of the few to still have power.
