Tornado rips apart building
A strong gust of wind, described by witnesses as a “mini tornado” hit Trafalgar late Saturday afternoon, ripping down the façade of a Waterloo Rd building.
The intense burst of wind at about 5.30pm appeared to rip through the Waterloo Rd and Contour Rd area, taking down trees and powerlines and causing extensive damage to the front of a building.
Witnesses indicated the strong gust of wind looked like a mini tornado.
The wind tore down the front of the old Vic Jeans & Son building, just east of the St Joseph’s Primary School. Adjacent houses, the school and Catholic Church were not damaged.
The front of the commercial building, now a memorabilia store, was left exposed and a trail of rubble and debris across Waterloo Rd.
Social media sites attracted a number of comments from people who were in the area.
Brendan Blackshaw said he had staff members in a car at the Waterloo Rd traffic lights when it occurred. He said it was like a “twister full of dust and stuff that hit there (the building) then the tree on the highway side of the railway line.”
Brayden Wilson was at the Trafalgar football ground and said he “watched a mini like tornado sweep through the street, taking down trees and powerlines.”
The Gippsland Storm Chasers Facebook page described the weather event as a “gust tornado.”
Baw Baw Shire’s municipal emergency management officer Tony Pinelli said police contacted him at about 6pm.
He said the damage caused by the “freak” weather event was incredible. “The front façade of the commercial building just collapsed onto the road.”
Mr Pinelli co-ordinated emergency services to respond to the incident including State Emergency Service personnel and police to assist with traffic management.
He said excavators and earthmoving equipment was called in to clean up the road. Moe SES members also assisted with the clean-up and securing the roof structure.
Mr Pinelli said the municipal building surveyor attended to assess the site and ensure it was safe. He said an emergency order would be issued to the owner.
It took about four hours for temporary fencing to be installed and the site to be secured. Security staff remained at the site overnight.
Mr Pinelli said no-one was in the building or injured at the site.
Warragul SES also were called to trees and powerlines down in the same area.
SES members said the wild wind through that small section of Trafalgar caused a number of large branches down in Contour Rd and Reserve Rd.
The building has been owned by Traralgon man John Matthews for about three and a half years. He uses the old factory area for private storage and had set up the shop front as a memorabilia store that had not opened yet.
Mr Matthews said he was shocked when he arrived at the site.
“I didn’t expect the front to fall down in one piece, but it is an old building,” he said.
Mr Matthews said the building was built in about 1950. He said he hoped the damage could be fixed but if the building had to be knocked down he would start again.
He said the building was insured so he would wait for engineers and building inspectors to undertake their assessments.
Mr Matthews said he also owned the adjacent vacant lot, which he thought originally had three shop fronts on the land.
He said if he had to rebuild, he would look at recreating an historic replica of what was originally on the adjoining sites.