Wednesday, August 28, 2024 A tragic incident occurred in western Victoria’s Gellibrand, where a man lost his life, and a woman was critically injured after their car was crushed by a tree toppled by fierce winds. The emergency services, despite their best efforts, were unable to save the male driver, who died at the scene. His female passenger was airlifted to the hospital in critical condition.
This incident was part of a broader pattern of wild weather that wreaked havoc across southern Australia, with more than 1000 emergency call-outs reported across multiple states. The State Emergency Service (SES) volunteers, along with other emergency services and local councils, have been working tirelessly to clear fallen trees from roads, buildings, and properties. Tim Wiebusch, the chief operations officer, emphasized the relentless efforts of the emergency teams to manage the situation, even as conditions were expected to ease on Wednesday night.
However, there was concern that winter gales could persist into early spring, potentially prolonging the emergency response efforts. In Victoria alone, SES volunteers responded to over 1000 calls for assistance within 24 hours, with 800 of those related to fallen trees. The damage was most concentrated in Victoria’s southeast and parts of Melbourne, where abnormally high tides and dangerous surf were expected to continue around the southwest coast, Gippsland, and Port Phillip Bay.
These conditions posed a risk of flooding in surf bea.