General News
7 February, 2019
Floods, fires, blackouts
EMERGENCY services personnel were called to several incidents across Camperdown when an electrical storm swept through the town at about 3.20pm on Wednesday.
EMERGENCY services personnel were called to several incidents across Camperdown when an electrical storm swept through the town at about 3.20pm on Wednesday.
After a sultry start to the day, the sky to the west darkened over as the winds picked up.
https://youtu.be/mXDQKCpP-VQ
The storm arrived with full force and dumped about 25mm on the town in just 30 minutes, with 30mm recorded over 24 hours until the official reading at 9am Thursday.
Roadside gutters along Manifold Street quickly filled before the water flooded across the footpaths and threatened to enter shops – particularly to the street’s eastern end.
Hair on Manifold and Camperdown Bakery were at particular risk, which saw the Corangamite Shire road patching truck called in to ‘blow away’ the excess water.
Camperdown SES personnel were also called to Showcase Jewellers after its guttering failed to cope with the downpour and threatened to flood the shop, however the risk diminished as the rain eased and the SES personnel were stood down.
Ritchies IGA was also a victim of the rains with a small section of the internal roof giving way under the weight of water.
Camperdown SES, CFA and police were also called to a Cressy Street residence after the occupant reported hearing a loud explosion and seeing a bright flash of light nearby.
The emergency services doorknocked neighbouring residents and confirmed the situation to be ‘safe’.
The SES was again called out at about 7.45pm to attend to a cypress tree which had fallen across a carport at a Leslie Manor residence.
SES controller Colin Brian said the entire tree, “roots and all” had toppled over with a branch landing on the carport, which needed to be propped up.
“At the same property, a roof from one of the sheds was completely torn off and came to rest some distance away in a paddock,” he said.
“It was like a mini-tornado had gone through.”
Powercor staff were also kept busy with a large number of district properties left without power due to the storm.
CFA units from across the district were called to a number of lightning fires - largely around The Sisters area in the afternoon and the Purrumbete area in the evening – with all quickly controlled.