UPDATE, SATURDAY 1.30pm:
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Emergency crews continue working to restore power and remove dangerous trees in Moorabool and Hepburn Shires.
Moorabool Shire Council has confirmed two houses were destroyed in the Dales Creek area and deemed uninhabitable and another two buildings were destroyed in Darley and Greendale.
"Council is assisting these homeowners to provide relief including accommodation," a council statement says.
Three homes were found damaged but habitable in the Moorabool Shire and another 17 properties are currently being assessed.
Powercor is still working to restore power in parts of Blackwood following wide-spread outages across the state. Power is estimated to return by approximately 8pm Saturday night.
Powerlines are down on various roads throughout Moorabool Shire, including Bates Road and Handley Street in Blackwood. Rresidents are advised to stay away and report any fallen lines to Powercor on 13 24 12.
We appreciate the significant impact this second storm event will have on Moorabool residents, many of whom are still recovering from the June weather event.
- Derek Madden, Moorabool Shire Council chief executive
Telstra has advised residents in Myrniong and Gordon are still experiencing issues with landline phone connection.
Residents in Blackwood are still unable to connect to ADSL internet. Telstra is working to restore all telecommunications services.
Moorabool Shire Council's customer service team has taken approximately 150 calls for assistance since Thursday evening, with hundreds more to the SES.
The Department of Environment Land Water and Planning has advised the Wombat State Forest is closed to the public as it undertakes tree hazard assessments following significant damage and the continuous risk of falling trees.
The heritage listed Avenue of Honour in Bacchus Marsh was heavily impacted but is now reopened for vehicles, as of late Friday evening.
Roads currently closed in Moorabool: .
- Yendon No. 2 Road, Buninyong
- Section of Ballan-Meredith Road, Morrisons
- Wroes Road off Yendon No. 2 Road, Buninyong
Council advises all residents to be cautious on the roads and be alert to fallen trees and other debris. Please do not travel into storm affected areas unless absolutely necessary.
For other road closures across the state, visit: https://traffic.vicroads.vic.gov.au/
"We appreciate the significant impact this second storm event will have on Moorabool residents, many of whom are still recovering from the June weather event," Moorabool Shire Council chief executive Derek Madden said.
"Thank you to our communities for their ongoing resilience and understanding as emergency crews work around the clock to restore services and clear trees."
Council's Storm Recovery Number will be available to continue to support impacted residents from Monday 1 November at 8.30am. Call (03) 5366 1323
EARLIER, FRIDAY 6pm:
Residents and businesses in Moorabool and Hepburn Shire are suffering the effects of a second major storm event in four months.
Power outages continue in a number of areas in the shires, inhibiting preparations and ability to welcome visitors from Melbourne as lockdown restrictions ease.
Hepburn State Emergency Services volunteers have been working with DELWP, council and VicRoads crews to respond to reports of fallen trees and damage.
Unit controller Brad Climie told The Courier on Friday afternoon volunteers first started responding to incidents at 3am on Friday and will continue throughout the weekend.
"We are still getting jobs trickling through because we have widespread power outages," he said.
"There are definitely no phones in the outlying areas, like Trentham and Blackwood so the jobs are coming in slowly because of the communication breakdown.
"We anticipate more jobs."
Mr Climie said crews started by driving and clearing main roads on Friday morning and freeing up roads and driveways for residents in areas including Korweinguboora, Blackwood and Barkstead that had been cut off.
He said he was aware of one car written off by storm damage and some damage to houses and fences, but the impact was much below the scale of the storms that hit the region in June.
We anticipate more jobs.
- Brad Climie, Hepburn SES
He said the last storms helped the community be better prepared.
"It builds resilience. They know what to expect now with widespread power outages and roads cut off and no access to portable water units and stuff like that," he said.
Mr Climie warned there was still a risk of trees fallen with wet ground and limbs stuck in trees could also pose a risk.
With a busy weekend of tourism expected for the region, Mr Climie said there could be many holiday home owners arrive at their property to find damage.
"We will get more calls for assistance when people rock up to their house and say 'oh my god' or find there is no access to it because of the damage," he said.
Hepburn Shire chief executive Bradley Thomas said he was aware of trees down and damage in different parts of the shire and crews were still assessing the damage, but it appeared to be minor in most cases.
"The loss of power and therefore IT systems has made this task more difficult," he said.
"We acknowledge the impact the power outage will have on businesses who were putting final steps into reopening to metro visitors from 6pm tonight."
Hepburn Shire mayor Lesley Hewitt said businesses had to be shut will the power was out which meant they could not operate or prepare for visitors.
She said power was slowly being restored, in Clunes at 2pm on Friday and some parts of Daylesford at 4pm, but it remained out in some parts of Daylesford and other areas in the shire into Friday evening.
Powercor said in a statement on Friday at 4.30pm its crews were continuing to work to restore power to areas but many could remain without into the weekend.
"Most of the hospitality businesses have remained closed because it didn't come back on early enough for them to get prepared for dinners tonight," Cr Hewitt told The Courier on Friday evening.
"The shire has had a lot to contend with this year in terms of COVID and the storm in June and the Melbourne lockdown," she said.
"A lot of our hospitality and accommodation businesses rely on Melbourne coming out and people were looking forward to Melbourne opening up and this happened last night and today an it has put preparations behind.
"People will be right, people will still come, power is back on and there is not a lot of structural damage.
"We have the Daylesford Art Show this weekend, there is plenty to do. We are still looking forward to welcoming people."
Moorabool Shire was also hit by the storms, with a council spokesperson confirming two houses were destroyed and are now uninhabitable.
The spokesperson said council was working with the impacted homeowners. Another 14 properties have minor structural damage and assessment is continuing.
Council received 150 calls for assistance as of late Friday afternoon.
The spokesperson said the Avenue of Honour in Bacchus Marsh was worst hit and Powercor, council and police have been working on the site all day, with the road expected to be open later Friday evening.
The road to Blackwood is now open but there is no power or communications for the town.
The spokesperson said the NBN Ute Muster Trailer will be visiting Blackwood at 6.30pm on Friday to assist residents with internet access.
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