VICSES respond to wild winds (8:30am release)

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VICSES respond to wild winds (8:30am release)

Published 28/08/2020

 

Media Release 

VICSES responds to wild winds - Friday 28/8/20 (8:30am)

 

As at 08:30am (28/8), VICSES has received over 2,100 calls for assistance as a result of the wild winds that impacted Victoria late on Thursday.

 

Our volunteers have cleared around 80% of those requests and are still working through the remainder as quickly as possible this morning. We thank the community for their patience.

 

85% of calls have been for felled trees with a further 10% to respond to building damage.

 

Most affected areas include: Mount Evelyn (58 calls for assistance), Belgrave (55), Croydon (45), Lilydale (34) and Mount Waverley (30).

 

VICSES is aware that a large volume of calls into 132 500 at the same time during the peak of the storm resulted in some delays for some community members requesting assistance. We thank the community for their patience and for the hard work of all the Emergency Services Telecommunications Authority (ESTA) operators.

 

VICSES is urging any road users particularly across the eastern suburbs of Melbourne and the Yarra Valley to please drive slowly in the conditions and be mindful of fallen branches and debris. 

 

For flood or storm emergency assistance the public can call the SES on 132 500.