Storms: A few reminders
Ahead of today’s anticipated severe weather event, I thought it timely to remind people of the resources we have available. Firstly, here is the official storm warning from the Bureau of Meteorology.
A storm warning has been issued by the BOM as of 10:41 pm Jul 15, 2022.
What to Prepare: Our Storm Pack
The SES has a great booklet on how to plan and stay safe in a storm too. Here is the link.
My family calls our pack the ‘storm be gone’. It is my belief that if we are fully prepared, the storm will either not eventuate or be less intense. As a new hills resident, the sudden loss of power caught us off guard quite a few times and so for new hills locals, here are a few things we have in our ‘storm be gone’ pack.
AM/FM Radio (ABC Melbourne 774 AM) A full list of emergency broadcasters can be downloaded here.
Cash in case the power is out at the bank ATMs and the phone lines are down disabling EFTPOS.
Charged power packs
Torches and solar powered lights
Batteries
Candles
Heat packs
First aid kit
Important documents to prove our identity
Sentimental items
A few items of clothing
In addition we:
put items away that could become airborne;
park the cars away from under trees;
ensure we have enough fuel for our generator, and;
fill our water bottles.
let our neighbours know our plans if we decide to leave the mountain before the storm.
If we do all this, we hope the storm will play nice and if not, we are prepared. This time, I’ve also prepped some marshmallows and hot chocolate, a good book, wool for crocheting and discussed with the kids which games we’ll play as a family. Power outages are something we regularly contend with but hopefully with these treats and activities the kids will associate fond memories with them.
During and After the Storm
For life-threatening emergencies call Triple Zero (000).
I have created a word document of all the contacts below which you can download and print off here.
** Urgent Relief Needs**
Contact Council on 1300 368 333. A member of the Yarra Ranges Council team can connect you to a wide range of support services.
VICSES is an emergency services agency and may undertake emergency temporary repairs. Call 132 500 from anywhere in Victoria for flood, storm, landslide, tsunami and earthquake emergency.
Fallen Trees
Trees on Local Roads – Contact Council on 1300 368 333 (if you know that a request hasn’t already been made on your road)
Trees on Main Roads – Contact VicRoads on 13 11 70
Trees on Power lines – Contact AusNet Services on 13 17 99
Injured Wildlife
Contact DELWP on 136 186
Livestock issues
Contact Agriculture Vic on (03) 9032 7676
Red Cross Victoria
If you need extra assistance, don’t hesitate to reach out to someone, 1800 733 276 or visit Ask Izzy
Salvation Army: 13 72 58
MotHs Resources
Please don’t forget to check out MotHs resources.
Hopefully this storm will weaken by the time it reaches the hills and we can all sleep safe and sound in our beautiful hills surroundings.
Stay safe everyone.
