THE rain bomb that hit the south west on Friday and Saturday was both a blessing and a curse, with full dams across the district accompanied by downed trees, flooded access roads and boggy conditions at local footy finals.
Emergency services were on full alert on Friday, issuing ‘take shelter’ notices ahead of the front which was predicted to bring wind gusts up to 120km per hour for south-west coastal areas, up to 80kphr for inland areas and the potential for damage to buildings.
That night, across the state, the SES responded to around 1400 requests for assistance – around 800 for fallen trees – and extra crews were sent to the Warrnambool and Portland areas on Saturday, to assist with a backlog of trees down and buildings damaged.
While Casterton township officially recorded around 40 millimetres of rain from Thursday to Saturday, farmers are tentatively rejoicing with some tipping out more than 50 millimetres over the same period and run-off filling dams which have held nothing but mud for months.
Wind gusts in town overnight Friday hit a top speed of 76kphr per hour, only easing to a top of 63kphr on Saturday.
Around the Casterton district, fallen trees and water across roads to the north and south caused some travel delays and via Casterton News social media, several residents reported damage to fences and minor damage to buildings.
The rough weather across the state also saw about 20,000 homes – including those from Dunrobin to Merino and Strathdownie to Carapook, without power for just half to several hours, overnight.
At Heathmere, where the penultimate round of South West District Football Netball League finals was being played, the host club warned visitors Friday night of the boggy conditions which had already seen parking options at a premium.
Following Friday night’s deluge, one access road into the ground – pictured here – was four-wheel-drive-only, water inundating the thoroughfare and tracks inside the ground turned into little rivulets.
The important part of the facility, however – the netball courts and footy field – were well-drained and held up nicely, despite the rising damp!
