The Limestone Coast was battered by wintry weather on the weekend, with emergency services volunteers kept busy responding to calls for help.
Strong wind and heavy rain lashed the region, bringing down trees which in turn caused numerous power blackouts.
Mount Gambier recorded 24.4mm of rain on Saturday, with strong winds recorded across the region, prompting a gale warning for coastal areas.
Mount Gambier SES Unit Manager Aaron Pettingill said his group of volunteers were kept busy responding to a range of call outs, which started at 2am on Saturday.
“They were predominantly on Saturday, we started at 2.08am and finished about 4.30pm when we had cleared all the jobs,” he said.
“We had 14 jobs in total for the day.”
Mr Pettingill said there were two collapsed walls reported in Mount Gambier, with one at the rear of the Mount Gambier RSL and the other at a premises on Sturt Street.
“The one at the back of the RSL, that was a limestone wall between the RSL carpark at the rear and the business next door,” he said.
“It had blown down, there were some electrical wires in it, there was very little we could do, we cordoned it off and the RSL organised an electrician to isolate the power.
“It was a similar thing on Sturt Street where the rear limestone wall of a shed blew out. It was quite a significant job, there was an unstable roof so we used some ropes and anchor points to secure the roof in place … the council then came in and cordoned off larger area for public safety.
“We also had a job at Glencoe where some branches came down onto a roof and broke a skylight, that was Saturday afternoon, we went in and removed the branches and put some temporary covers in place for that.
“Then all the rest were trees down, mostly on roads, there were a couple that impacted buildings within the township, we did have one patio area and the tree came through into that, the other was leaning across the house but no structural damage. There were a couple of trees down on fences, the rest were on roads.”
Mr Pettingill said Saturday had been the busiest day of the year so far for the unit, with the last burst of storm activity experienced prior to Christmas.
“It’s been a while since we have had anything that significant in Mount Gambier, where we have been out that long,” he said.
“All up we used 14 different members throughout the course of the day, people had rest periods at different stages … there were some long stints in there for some people, others came and went as available.
“We had a lot of support from the MFS and CFS in Mount Gambier who did some of the jobs we were at, SAPOL were also in attendance at some of the jobs as well.
“We had a couple of ambulance officers who came in with a few different food items to say thanks, also a member of the public dropped off some chocolates for members.
“We had a breakfast at McDonalds and some discount there as well.”
Mr Pettingill said the unit was always looking for members, and anyone interested in joining can find out more here by visiting www.ses.sa.gov.au/home/volunteer/
Meanwhile, high winds toppled trees and branches at Lake McIntyre at Millicent on Friday night.
Volunteers from the Lake McIntyre Management Committee began clearing the debris the following morning.
Outside work crews from Wattle Range Council were on site yesterday (Monday) to continue the clean up.
The latest damage at Lake McIntyre was not as severe as the mini-cyclone in December.
Meanwhile, the high winds also brought down the security fencing at the construction site of the new $10m council office on North Terrace.
