SHEER POWER IN EYE OF S TORM
NEW photos have shown the destructive power of winds that felled transmission towers near Cressy, sending electricity providers scrambling to restore power lines.
Fierce storms rumbled through western and central
Victoria on Friday, bringing down six 500kV towers holding important power lines linked to South Australia.
Images of twisted metal and severed power lines after the storm swept through have fuelled speculation a tornado was responsible.
But Bureau of Meteorology
Victorian Liberal senator Sarah Henderson took to Twitter to voice outrage.
“I utterly condemn this koala slaughter, which I’m advised by the Australian Forest Products Association occurred spokesman Steven McGibbony yesterday said a tornado would have been unlikely.
He said a “downburst” thrust winds potentially perpendicular to the powerlines.
“A downburst is essentially the core (rain and cold air) of the thunderstorm descending,” he said.
“When it hits the ground, it then has to flow outward, which causes these strong gusts at the surface.”
A gust of 119km/h was recorded when the storm passed over Mt Gellibrand, according to radar imagery.
A storm that crossed Port Phillip Bay later that day dropped a 146km/h gust, suggesting even stronger winds were possible.
Electricity infrastructure provider AusNet Services is set to start constructing temporary towers today.
It is aiming to have at least one line reconnected by the end of next week.