Tassie battens down for big blow

AS Tasmanians went to sleep last night, Burnie’s women State Emergency Service volunteers were preparing for action after a severe weather warning was issued for today.

A heightened risk of flying trampolines and falling trees from damaging wind gusts of 110-120km/h with average speeds of 60-70km/h had volunteers across the state on standby.

The three SES regional operations centres — North, South and North-West — have been fully resourced with staff and volunteers from 4am this morning in advance of the weather event.

Among the volunteers out today is Paula Bryan, whose husband, Mark, is the unit manager of the Burnie crew.

The 42year-old joined six months after her husband and was motivated by the lack of women in the force and thought “I could do that”.

She was the only woman in the Burnie team when she started six years ago, but after being joined by five others it’s now about a 50-50 split.

She said it’s spurred a “little bit of competitiveness” between the sexes and the girls are among the first to put their hands up to go out on jobs.

“I love it, especially the searches,” Ms Bryan said.

“We can use a chainsaw just as well. We can do anything just as well as the men.”

She hopes other women volunteer as they’d “like to outnumber the boys”.

“You’ll make lots of friends, learn new skills and get a confidence boost as well,” Ms Bryan said.

SES North-West regional manager Wayne Richards said women made up about a third of the area’s 170 volunteers.

Ahead of today’s severe winds, SES assistant director Leon Smith urged Tasmanians not to put themselves in a vulnerable situation and only venture into the wind if absolutely necessary.

“It’s 10-20km/h higher wind speeds (than usual) so there’s a high chance trees will come down, which will potentially cause power outages,” he said.

“We ask that people tie down and secure any loose items including outdoor furniture and play equipment.

“Winds of this speed can pick up items like trampolines and debris and carry them some distance, and can blow trees and power lines across roads.”

Mr Smith said gusts of 70km/h had already been recorded and they received two calls for help yesterday after- noon in the Dromedary region for minor roof damage.

Boat owners are urged to attach a second mooring line to vessels and North coast residents are advised to expect an abnormally high tide.

A Hobart Airport spokesman said they were not expecting any delays at this stage but travellers were encouraged to check their airline’s website for the latest flight information.

If strong gusts did occur it was an occupational health and safety issue to have baggage handlers and passengers on the tarmac, which was what caused minor delays last week, he said.

For flood and storm emergency assistance call the SES on 132 500 or in a life-threatening emergency, triple-0.