STORM THREAT REMAINS
RESIDENTS woke to storm damage across Tasmania on Tuesday after a series of strong wind gusts – and the weather bureau warns we should leave the tie-downs in place.
Roofs were torn off, fallen trees closed roads and power was cut to thousands of homes as wind gusts reaching the strength of a category 2 cyclone peaked at 148km/h on Mt Wellington on Tuesday morning.
Wind gusts in some Hobart suburbs reached almost 110 km/h.
Damaging winds are possible again on Thursday with the movement of another cold front into southern Tasmania.
The Bureau of Meteorology said wind gusts at both Hobart and kunanyi/Mt Wellington on Tuesday were the strongest since September 12, 2019.
While the destruction and subsequent road closures
and power outages were concentrated in Tasmania’s South, outages and closures were reported as far north as Deloraine.
The state’s power provider, TasNetworks, was in a scramble to bring customers back on to the grid Tuesday with some localities remaining without power well into the afternoon. At the storm’s peak, more than 7000 customers were without power because of fallen trees across powerlines or power poles down.
The Friends’ School in Hobart and Lenah Valley Primary School were among those without power.
Friends’ Early Learning to Year 6, and Year 11-12 students were asked to stay home, but Lenah Valley continued classes as usual.
“Classrooms are fairly warm and light so we are open today. Please ensure students have a jumper,” said a Facebook post from Lenah Valley Primary School.
Insurers had to increase staff after an influx of calls, with RACT putting on extra workers to accommodate an increase in claims coming in.
“There is widespread damage and it varies from roofs ripped off houses to trampolines in people’s yards,” RACT CEO Trent Sayers said.
“We are expecting an influx of calls throughout the day as people discover damage around their properties.”
The passing cold front brought little rain over the course of Monday night and early Tuesday morning but the bureau warns the next front, expected to hit on Thursday, will bring rain.
“Downslope windstorms and damaging wind gusts with vigorous cold fronts are a common feature in autumn and spring in Tasmania,” a weather bureau spokeswoman said.
“Damaging winds are possible again on Thursday with the passage of another cold front.
“Statewide rainfall is also expected with this system.”