Cool change brings with it high wind & heavy rain

Cool relief for some, but not for Chelsea SES

Following a run of hot and humid days and nights, Melbourne was promised a cool change on Sunday (06/02/2012) afternoon and they were not disappointed.

From late morning, as winds began to increase in strength, it became only a matter of time before the Chelsea SES pagers were put to work as calls for assistance came in to the team. Crews were kept busy with a steady stream of calls through until late on Sunday evening when the last of the days 28 jobs were completed. Worst hit areas were Chelsea neighbours, Moorabbin as well as Croydon and Nunawading all of whom had in excess of 100 jobs.

One of the biggest jobs of the day in Mordialloc

One of the biggest jobs of the day was in Melrose Street in Mordialloc when a large dead tree was blown down onto the house. The call was received late in the afternoon and crews spent more than 2 hours removing the tree.

Dead trees fall onto houses much easier than healthy ones

It is another timely reminder that if you have dead trees on your property, you should be trying to have them removed to avoid a situation like this where your home could be at risk. If you are in a rental property then you should ensure that the agents are made aware of the situation even by giving them photographs of the tree. Click here to find some useful tips to help make you property safer during storms.

Luckilly there was minimal damage to the building in this case

More by good luck than good management, there was very little damage to the house in this case, however, more often than not in a situation like this, damage to the home can be very costly plus the obvious inconvenience as well as the real risk of injury to the occupants.

The tree took out the power lines as well

As the tree fell it brought down power lines and so the power company were informed.

Here is the breakdown of the days events:

• 28 jobs in total
• 6 tree down traffic hazards
• 14 trees down
  
• 6 Building damage (all involving trees)
• 2 other incidents (1 fence down & 1 hording that had come loose and was flapping in the wind)

Job locations were as follows:

• 6 in Aspendale
• 5 in Mordialloc
• 5 in Parkdale
• 4 in Mentone
• 4 in Chelsea
• 3 in Edithvale
• 3 in Aspendale Gardens
• 1 in Chelsea Heights

The Chelsea LHQ was manned and operational from 11.30am until all jobs were completed and members back safely at 9.30pm. A crew of 3 and vehicle were then dispatched to Nunawading to assist with their outstanding jobs, returning to Chelsea around 1am on Monday morning..

All members returned safe and sound  from the day and there were no reports of any injuries incurred by the public throughout the Chelsea operational area during the event.