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 SA, VIC: Storms cause widespread damage
A 10-minute storm that swept through the Renmark area of the Murray Valley this afternoon is estimated by the State Emergency Services to have caused over $5m in damage. The storm was one of a line of storms that formed on a trough passing through SE SA and western VIC during the afternoon. This trough is the remnant of the trough and low pressure system that damaged Esperance on Thursday.
At least 30 buildings in Renmark sustained damage along with motor vehicles, and trees, powerlines and vine plantings were brought down. Twenty houses have lost all or part of their roofs and another 4 are damaged beyond repair. Over 70 houses required roof tarping. 150-year-old gum trees were said to have been "ripped from the ground". Whole grape blocks were flattened, with posts and strainers pulled from the soil. One grower alone estimated replacement costs at $250,000 and total crop damage is likely to run into millions of dollars. About 6000 residents in Renmark and Mallee areas including Lameroo South, Pinnaroo, Paringa and Geranium had no power for hours. Damage was worst in the western part of Renmark, where the South Store had its front ripped off. SES spokesman Scott Turner told ABC Radio "Certain streets of Renmark just look like it's rained. You drive into other streets and there are trees covering three-quarters of the streets, roofs have been ripped off and there's roofing iron and tiles on the street. [It's been] very, very selective - in one street in particular, we have one house where its roof has been totally destroyed, yet no other house in the street has been touched." The area of severe wind damage was said to be about 1km by 10km. The SES received 70 calls for assistance. The highest wind gust at Renmark Airport was 91km/h at 4.01pm, while there was a 104km/h wind gust at Swan Hill VIC at 6.30pm (see downpours and high AWS wind reports for more details). Trees were brought down along a 10km length of the Calder Highway at Carwarp, 30km south of Mildura, at 6pm, stopping traffic. The SA Government subsequently announced short-term funding to assist producers and some home owners that suffered damage.
Subsequent investigations by Bureau of Meteorology severe weather experts indicated that the Renmark damage was not the result of a tornado. Senior meteorologist Duncan Tippins told ABC Radio that maximum winds were likely to have been 140km/h. "We've found that the damage path was generally broad and about one to two kilometres wide and around about five to six kilometres long. That suggests the damage was caused by a thunderstorm downburst rather than a tornado," he said.
Over 200 calls for help were received by emergency services as the storms swept eastwards, with 150 received in and around Melbourne, especially Werribee, Craigieburn, Nunawading and Eltham. A tree smashed through a house roof at Kalorama in the Dandenongs, and there was flash flooding in Hamilton where 13.6mm fell in 15 minutes at the Airport. Six people were rescued from a damaged yacht in rough seas near Deal Island, SE of Wilsons Promontory.
 VIC: Bushfires continue to burn. Strong gusty winds and temperatures up to 12C above normal kept firefighters busy across the state. In East Gippsland, the Boulder Creek fire, 40km E of Orbost, continued to burn, closing the Princes Highway for part of the day. The Great Divide fire complex, which has burnt through over 9000 sq km of forest, claimed one life and destroyed 32 houses, flared up again today near Mount Buller, burning over the top of a ridge above the ski resort village. Two thousand firefighters and water-bombing aircraft are fighting the Great Divide complex.
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Tasmanian rainfall for the 24 hours to 9am today (left) and Sunday (right) |
 TAS: Useful rain falls nearly statewide. The low pressure system that damaged Esperance on Thursday also brought beneficial rain to all of TAS today, with the exception of the state's East Coast. Apart from the South West, the state has experienced below average rainfall since last May. Rain began overnight and continued into the early hours of Sunday morning before contracting to the West Coast. The charts above show there were good falls in the South East and Derwent Valley this morning, moving to the northwest during today. The best falls away from the mountains over the two day period to 9am Sunday were Mole Creek 46.6, Erriba 51.2, Dover 45.6, Geeveston 49.4, Southport 52.4, Leslie Vale 52.2 and Strahan 55.0. The highest 2-day total was 66.6 at Warra, inland from Geeveston. The 24-hour totals of 25.6 at Judbury and 32.8 at Ashton this morning were those two stations' highest January one-day totals in over 10 years of record. The 24-hour total of 44.0mm at Strahan Airport to 9am Sunday was that station's highest January one-day total in a 22 year history.
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