By BRIDGET SCOTT
WILD and windy weather ripped through Cardinia last week and the effects of it are still being felt by residents shire-wide.
Overturned trampolines, fallen trees and snow were seen through towns in the area including Pakenham, Garfield and Upper Beaconsfield.
Many drivers were stopped in their tracks with trees blocking the roads, while other surfaces turned to ice causing huge delays and many bingles throughout the area.
Feedback on the Pakenham-Berwick Gazette Facebook page revealed that residents throughout Cardinia Shire were severely affected by the weather, and some suffered damages to their houses and property.
One Upper Beaconsfield resident had part of his verandah collapse after a tree fell on it, while one Pakenham resident had their neighbour’s trampoline land in their backyard.
Ben Owen commented and said Emerald SES had over 150 calls for assistance and parts of Cockatoo had more than 30 hours without power.
Corey Johnson also said the Pakenham SES were flat out, with more than 53 call-outs in one day.
Unit controller for Pakenham SES Andrew Graham said their unit had around 60 call-outs over the entire weekend, most made last Thursday.
He said the call-outs came from one part of the shire in the morning and shifted as the day went on.
“On the Thursday morning it started around the Bunyip and Tynong area, and later in the day it moved back down towards Pakenham, Berwick and Beaconsfield,” he said.
He said while it was “all pretty run of the mill” issues, one man in Iona had the roof of his shed blow off and this was beyond repair by the SES crews.
He said many of the jobs were trees down on roads, or some up against houses.
Kelly Anne Murphy posted a photo on the Pakenham-Berwick Gazette Facebook of what was her shed, which was destroyed during the wind and rain.
Amanda Camp also posted and said a tree from her next-door neighbour’s house destroyed their carport.
While many suffered through this, most readers congratulated the Cardinia Shire Council’s workers on a great job during the clean-up and responding to call-outs by residents.
Nola Steele said a huge pine tree blocked off Knights Road in Bunyip for nearly 24 hours, but after they reported it to council workers responded immediately.
“After reporting it to Cardinia Council, they arrived that night in freezing and hurricane conditions and spent most of the night cutting it up and opening the road by 8am,” she said.
Gav Mills also commended the council workers’ efforts.
“Well done Citywide and Cardinia Shire for their ongoing clean-up efforts,” he said.
