Powerful storms toppled powerlines on Wednesday, October 22, while Sunday, October 26, saw heavy rainfall disrupting several community gatherings.
On Wednesday, 140 customers in Kyabram, 20 customers in Girgarre and two customers in Tongala were without power for about eight hours after a strong storm hit earlier than expected.
It came following a weather warning issued by the Bureau of Meteorology on Tuesday, October 21, forecasting winds averaging 50km/h to 60km/h in south-western Victoria, winds between 60km/h and 80km/h over central Victoria and strong winds across northern Victoria.
Winds were not forecast to reach northern Victoria until 5pm on Wednesday, however Kyabram residents reported power outages as early as 12.30pm.
The bureau reported a dramatic surge in wind speeds at Kyabram's weather station, with gusts more than doubling from 17km/h to 39km/h in just one hour between 9.30am and 10.30am.
The strong wind continued, with the fastest winds of 69km/h reported at 4.10pm.
Throughout the day, the VicEmergency app was busy, with alerts for building damage and trees down in Stanhope, Rushworth, Kyvalley and Wyuna.
Among those responding was SES controller Paul Octigan who said his unit was called out to six incidents throughout the day, including a couple of fallen trees and one for a roof which had taken off.
Mr Octigan said the SES unit, on Kuhle Crt, was left without power and had to use a generator to continue operating throughout the day.
On Sunday, SES was dealing with another force of nature: a massive dump of rain.
In a sudden deluge, Kyabram’s weather station measured a significant 11.2mm of rain in just two-and-a-half hours between 11am and 1.30pm.
This caused chaos for local events including the Girgarre Open Gardens, which had to move its afternoon high tea inside, and the Moama Motorama, which had to wrap up its weekend-long event a few hours early.
While the SES only received one call out at Stanhope on Sunday, Mr Octigan knows the flooding in Kyabram built up quickly.
He said it was something which could be easily avoided.
“We get flash flooding really easily here in Kyabram,” he said.
“If you’ve got a downpipe full of leaves and you haven’t checked them, (rain) will just overflow and then (water) backfills into the house.
“When the forecast is a thunderstorm, just clean out your gutters.”
He also said before a storm hit it was important to tie down any outdoor furniture and equipment, especially trampolines, which could easily lift and cause damage to surrounding infrastructure.
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