SEVERAL local SES units were part of the emergency effort that attended to the multiple callouts in Casterton late Wednesday afternoon when the township was lashed by a freak storm.
The rapid downpour of rain and hail wreaked havoc on the township with more than 110 calls for assistance coming in.
The mayhem started at about 5.30pm with the hail lasting about 20 minutes smashing windows, skylights and laserlite awnings, then heavily raining for another 25 minutes, pouring water into the holes and damage just created.
Casterton News editor, Kristy McDonald said the experience was “harrowing and absolutely terrifying … just watching everything get damaged”.
“Down along Murray Street, which is a big residential street, it looked like there were layers of snow,” she said.
“Just about every business in the CBD has got damage in some way, shape or form.
“The street was white yesterday and green this morning because the damage to the trees was all over the footpaths and the road.”
Her own main street office wasn’t spared, with water raining down on desks, computers and the phone system.
“Electricity is questionable,” she said.
“We’re not turning anything on in the office here because we don’t know how much water is in the roof.”
Emergency response
SES operations manager, south-west, Stephen McDowell said the Casterton Fire Station was used as a base to coordinate rescue and repair efforts that included CFA crews.
He said the prevalence of rooftop damage restricted their crews’ ability to work at night for safety reasons.
“We’ve been doing everything we can from daybreak to the evening to deal with situations right across the township,” he said.
Hamilton SES volunteer, Bruce Farquharson was part of the crew that attended when the first calls came in.
“We had a crew over there Wednesday night and the crew went back again Thursday – and probably will again on Friday,” he said on Thursday.
“It was a mess.
“When we got there, as we were driving into town, there was lots of ice, and tree material was just shredded.
“Dartmoor SES covers the Casterton area and the CFA stepped up really well to support their community – we worked very well together – that was evident again.”
Mr Farquharson said the main things they attended to included water damage in ceiling cavities, water coming through light fittings, plumbing and flooding.
“The hail absolutely shredded laserlite – we went in and made sure it was safe.
“It smashed sky lights – they didn’t stand up to the hail very well.
“The plumbing on buildings, the spouting, the drainage was just overwhelmed because it wasn’t water landing there, it was ice – it doesn’t run away like water.
“You ended up on rooves with a deep amount of ice on those box gutters.
“The gutters got overwhelmed and the flashing in rooves and you ended up with water in ceiling spaces and coming down through light fittings.
“The plumbing was not designed for it – it was a one in 50 year or 100-year event.
“The first thing we do is turn off the electricity to the lights – if you don’t do that you’ve got electric shock risks and the potential of shorting out and fires starting.”
There was 21.8mm of rain recorded at the Casterton Airport from the sudden downpour but Mr Farquharson felt that in the town it would have been more.
“I expect that with the heart of the storm over the town it would have been greater,” he said.
“You hear about one in 50- or 100-year events – this was a bit different because it was hail rather than rain.”
He said of the 110 calls that came in, 80 of those were for building damage, 17 with flooding and 11 other miscellaneous call outs.
“36 of the callouts were cleared before 11.30am on Thursday,” Mr Farquharson said.
“The secondary college and the Sacred Heart Primary School were both closed on Thursday due to damage.
“The hospital and aged care had water damage but there was no requirement to relocate residents or patients.”
Mr Farquharson said there were several cars that were outside when the storm hit and incurred significant damage.
“Any cars that were outside were damaged,” Mr Farquharson said.
“There were even windscreens that were broken – the duco was just sandpaper.”
Businesses clean up
MS McDonald said the resilience and work of many central businesses to clean up was incredible.
“They’ve been great,” she said.
“They’re not just focusing on their own businesses.
“The guy from Proway has been out with his leaf blower clearing all the leaves and debris off the footpath because he said it wasn’t fair to leave it to the one fellow at the council who’d been given the job.”
Several essential businesses did their best to open on Thursday, despite the challenges.
“The pharmacy, even though they’re missing half their ceiling, was open this morning,” Ms McDonald said.
“They worked late last night to get everything cleaned up so they could open this morning.
“Foodworks staff were in there last night, working like absolute troopers to clean up the floor, clean up the mess that has been made from the ceiling falling in.
“They were in there at the crack of dawn this morning, putting all fresh stock in and getting it ready to open.
“The butcher shop floor was just full of mud – Sandie and Ash and their team were pretty much in there most of the night, cleaning the mud out of the butcher shop and sanitizing it so they could open first thing.”
Other businesses such as the post office, newsagent and bakery also reopened, but some others had hung up signs informing they were closed until further notice.
Other locations affected
CASTERTON Memorial Hospital (CMH) issued a statement on Thursday after also sustaining damage, with chief executive, Rowena Clift explaining urgent care services were temporarily unavailable.
CMH staff worked around the clock to address the siutation and to ensure that all residents and patients remained safe and well cared for, with community members in need of medical assistance advised to visit the nearest healthcare facilities in Hamilton or Mount Gambier.
Ms Clift praised the dedication and swift response of the CMH team and expressed her gratitude for the support offered by local residents and health service colleagues.
“I want to thank our staff for their exceptional efforts in ensuring the safety and care of our patients and residents during this unexpected event,” she said.
“Their commitment has been incredible.”
Urgent care was reopened yesterday and Ms Clift said CMH would be “exploring ways to offer support where it is most needed”.
“We are committed to helping our community recover,” she said.
The local golf club also took a battering with the dining room “very wet” and water damage extending to the kitchen, passages, bar and bathrooms.
They announced a working bee on Sunday at 9.30am to help clean up.
Ms McDonald said the experience was surreal with the ice so thick in places it persisted in some clumps until well into the afternoon on Thursday, and praised the tenacity and kindness of the town’s residents, acknowledging the challenge ahead.
“The cleanup is going to go for days,” she said.
“But the locals are all banding together really well.
“It’s very, very sad for our little town.”
More information in Casterton News next week.
