By ANEEKA SIMONIS
A TRAMPOLINE took off in spectacular fashion during wild winds, launching into the air before making a destructive landing on a lamppost.
The impaled trampoline wasn’t the only casualty at the affected Nar Nar Goon North property.
Strong gusts of wind also ripped the tin roof from the tractor shed and cut power to the home during the burst of wild weather that descended on the region from midday on Tuesday 3 May.
Nar Nar Goon North’s Meagan Rogers came home to find the backyard destruction at lunchtime, despite blue skies and sun.
“I tied it to the tree and everything! It’s still tied to the tree, just upside down,” she said.
The Bureau of Meteorology issued severe weather warnings for the region ahead of the damaging winds, with gusts estimated to peak at 90-100km/h.
Pakenham, Pakenham Upper, Cardinia, Dalmore, Cora Lynn, Kooweerup, Garfield and Gembrook were among the towns which reported fallen trees, while a number of properties also sustained damage.
It made for a busy day for State Emergency Service (SES) crews, some of whom were run off their feet in the days leading to the severe weather event.
Emerald SES Controller Ben Owen said three crews were on the road all day on Sunday 1 May helping to clear storm damage.
Trees came down over powerlines, roads and driveways during the storm, with the unit receiving more than 40 call-outs over the day.
“Most of our requests for assistance were for trees down – trees down on powerlines or on roads,” he said.
“We were lucky this time – we had a very mild amount of building damage.”
One man who wasn’t so lucky had to be airlifted to The Alfred hospital after he was freed from beneath an out-of-control car in Cockatoo on Sunday 1 May.
The 30-year-old Ferntree Gully man was helping a friend tow a bogged car on a steep hill when the towing rope snapped.
The car slid down the 100-metre hill with the man inside and when he tried to climb out, he became wedged underneath, said Senior Constable Craig Harvey of Emerald Police.
“He got caught in the car door, went under the car, got dragged down the bottom and came to rest in thick bushland at the bottom of the hill.”
The man was suffered a suspected punctured lung and was treated at The Alfred.
