Wild weather wreaked havoc on the Bellarine Peninsula last weekend.
Storm damage was widely reported with Barwon Heads Road closed from Friday morning to Sunday morning.
Power outages were widespread while mobile phone coverage was nonexistent for much of Friday.
Power wasn’t restored in some areas of Ocean Grove until Sunday while Barwon Heads had to wait until Saturday evening for electricity to be restored.
More than 7000 homes in Ocean Grove suffered power outages while St Leonards, Point Lonsdale and Queenscliff were also hit hard.
In some cases, entire trees were uprooted and widespread damage was reported to buildings and cars.
Wind gusts of up to 100km/h were reported.
“We were woken early on Friday morning when a huge gum tree fell onto our house,” one Barwon Heads resident told the Voice.
“There was this earth shattering thud. Next minute our roof caved in.”
One driver was lucky to escape serious injury when a tree fell on their car on Barwon Heads Road.
A huge tree at Barwon Heads Village Park near the second cricket oval was entirely uprooted.
Bellarine SES said it attended a huge amount of call outs for storm damage, trees down and building damage and assisted Ambulance Victoria with a beach rescue.
On what should have been a busy trading weekend, businesses were shut all day on Friday and some were not able to re-open until Saturday evening.
With Melburnians being able to visit regional Victoria from 6pm Friday and a four-day weekend for many, it was another blow to local businesses who have already endured a tough time during the pandemic.
Bellarine Training and Community Hub was closed on Friday and cancelled all classes.
Jirrahlinga Koala and Wildlife Sanctuary director Tehree Gordon said the park had been severely affected and would remain closed for at least a week.
