WIND gusts of up to 100kph on Monday night last week brought down trees in gardens and blocked roads in Mt Eliza and Mornington – keeping SES crews busy until 2am Tuesday.
Spokesman Brian McMannis said 20 Frankston SES members worked in harsh conditions to move fallen trees from Tower, Humphries, Overport, Walkers and Canadian Bay roads from 10am Monday until clearing was called off at 2am next day. Then it was back on the job later Tuesday morning until 8pm.
“We received about 35 calls relating to trees coming down, mainly on roads,” Mr McMannis said.
Crews were rotated throughout the day to keep them refreshed and able to cope with the demand for their services. Backup was provided by Chelsea SES crews who also helped clear trees in the Mt Eliza area.
Mr McMannis said it took a “couple of hours” to clear two large cypress pines which had fallen across Tower Rd.
“Mt Eliza was the worst hit area, but we also had calls from Langwarrin and Carrum Downs,” he said.
Hastings SES crews cleared trees brought down when wild winds hit Mornington causing minor building damage, Monday night and into the early hours of Tuesday.
Coordinator Naomi Jewell said its 10 members responded to 30 jobs – with an emphasis on the rapid clearing of trees down over roads to ease the next morning’s traffic flow.
Three crews worked throughout the day and into Tuesday morning, with one large tree cleared from in front of the shops in Main Street.
“It was fortunate for us it was a Monday night because that’s our training night and we were all at the base anyway,” Ms Jewell said.
She said wind gusts of 60-100kph rocked the coast throughout the night.
First published in the Mornington News – 31 July 2018
