Melbourne Thunderstorm
Posting Date: 06 March 2010
Location: Melbourne, Australia
Peril: Other
On Saturday, 6 March, a super cell thunderstorm brought hailstones, strong winds and flash flooding to Melbourne, Australia, severely damaging properties and cars, causing power outages and forcing the cancellation of sporting events in the city. In what is being described as the “storm of the century” the city received up to 3 inches of rain in approximately 30 minutes, accompanied by winds of up to 62 mph (100 km/hr). According to the Australian Bureau of Meteorology, hailstones were reported at 2 inches (50 mm) in diameter. The entire metropolitan area was affected by the storm, though it is understood that Melbourne’s eastern and southeastern suburbs were worst hit.
Reports are of widespread damage to property roofs in terms of broken tiles, broken glass and a lot of skylight damages. Isolated structural damaged caused as a result of treefall from the storm also exist. In terms of vehicle damage, broken glass and dented vehicles have been caused from the hailstones, whist numerous underground car parks have been flooded. Damage to privately owned property, will become clearer over the next few days as individuals return to their homes following the State’s Labor Day holiday weekend. There are however no reported fatalities or serious injuries from the storm.
Reports indicated that the National Gallery of Victoria in Melbourne city centre has suffered flooding, and that the Docklands Stadium (Telstra Dome) in Melbourne Docklands has suffered severe water damage. The Alfred Hospital, the oldest hospital in the city, has reported suffering leaks over the weekend and the roof of the city’s Southern Cross railway station has been significantly damaged by hailstones. In a statement given by the Victorian premier, John Brumby, it is understood that 11 families in Melbourne and 4 families in the east of the state of Victoria have had to be relocated from their damaged homes. At the height of the storm 100,000 homes were without power, and 100 traffic lights were out in the city, resulting in traffic chaos. An Aussie Rules matched had to been cancelled as a result of the flooding, as too the horse racing at Flemington Race Course.
The Insurance Council of Australia (ICA) has invoked its Catastrophe Coordination Arrangements – it declared the storm a catastrophe merely two hours after the event - meaning insurance claims can be lodged even if policy documents have been lost or destroyed by flood. It is expecting insurance claims from the weekend storms to reach into the hundreds of millions of Australian dollars. Reports from Melbourne expect the number of claims to reach 40,000. (The insurer RACV has of Sunday evening already received 3,000 claims).
The Australian Bureau of Meteorology has issued a warning for further violent storms in Melbourne over the next few days.
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