Warrnambool SES continues clean-up after severe storm lashes region

The storm on Friday, September 8, resulted in hundreds of calls to emergency services and chaos for road users as power lines, trees and debris fell onto south-west roads and turned off traffic lights.

There were 290 calls for help to the Warrnambool SES units on Friday and Saturday.

Warrnambool SES controller Andrew Miles said although the weather conditions had receded on Saturday, the clean-up efforts continued with the city's unit being joined by dozens of SES and CFA volunteers from around the state.

SES units attended from Port Fairy, Heathcote, Ararat, Hobsons Bay, Horsham, Heidelberg, Swan Hill, Gibson, Fawkner and Terang.

The Warrnambool unit also received help from FRV and CFA units from Warrnambool, Geelong, Torquay, Lara, Purnim, Allansford and Woodford.

"They have all come in and as you can see we are all working together to get these jobs done as soon as we can," he said on Saturday.

Volunteers attended about 90 calls for help for building damage on Saturday.

Volunteers were seen climbing onto the roof of charity organisation Loved & Shared at Warrnambool's Cooper Street.

Mr Miles said the front roller door of the shed was blown out in Warrnambool's storm.

"With the wind coming through, it had to get out of the shed and that has forced a sky light off the roof," he said.

"We're going to get a couple of guys onto the roof now with a roof top safety system and fall system in place. They'll put plastic down over the skylight and weather-proof it until it can be fixed by tradesmen."

Mr Miles said the number of jobs had calmed down by Saturday afternoon but volunteers were expecting residents to still find damage in the aftermath of the storm.

"If we do have a little bit of (inclement) weather come through, because everything has been impacted so hard, and loosened a lot of stuff off, that's when we find more jobs come through," he said.

"But it shouldn't be as major as what we've had."

SES operations manager Andrew Murton said said there'd been 600 requests for assistance across the south-west, with Warrnambool the most impacted.

"This is day two and what we've had is tremendous support across Victoria," he said.

Mr Murton said Friday's weather event was the biggest they'd seen in the city.

"I think about 140 requests was the biggest before, that was an October event in about 2020. It was just as COVID-19 hit, there was a lot of flash flooding and a lot of rescues that bay but this is the single biggest wind event we've seen," he said.

"They say 'windy Warrnambool' - it's even windy for us."

Mr Murton said the attending Geelong SES unit were trained "in height" and had arrived in Warrnambool on Friday night to help with damage to roofs across the city.

"Everyone's been going pretty hard over the last couple of days ," he said.

He said the job at Loved & Shared was one of many where crews put a safety line up to work on the roof, conducting temporary repairs and making sure there was no further damage.

"That is until it can be fixed properly," he said.

He said Saturday had been another "huge effort" from all involved.

Mr Murton said while requests for help had "probably peaked", it was not unusual for residents to find more damage in the days after weather conditions calm.

He said all events were triaged and looked at on a case-by-case basis with primary residences usually attended to first.

"Thankfully we have over 50 volunteers and staff assisting across the Warrnambool region today and that's made a significant difference in being able to get to all of these events in a timely fashion," he said.

"To the residents of Warrnambool, we say thank you for your patience over the last 24 hours."

Mr Murton and Mr Miles thanked all of the attended emergency services, as well as local councils, that had helped with the huge task of cleaning up the city.

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