In response to the recent severe weather and damaging winds, Mornington Peninsula Shire is working closely with emergency services and our contractors to help coordinate relief and recovery efforts.
Wind gusts up to 130kmh battered the Mornington Peninsula overnight on 1-2 September. Strong winds combined with high tides and storm surges resulted in power outages, damage to property, fallen trees and substantial coastal erosion.
Community safety and welfare is always of the highest priority, underpinning our relief and recovery response. Our customer support team took more than 900 calls yesterday, logging more than 600 customer requests, most of which were tree concerns.
To assist residents impacted by power outages, yesterday we activated two 'power and shower' relief hubs at Civic Reserve Recreation Centre in Mornington and Red Hill Recreation Reserve, where people could charge electrical devices and use the shower and toilet facilities.
With the cooperation of Belgravia Leisure, today we also opened a relief hub at Somerville Recreation Centre to help any Western Port residents still without power. With power now mostly restored across the Peninsula, we expect to stand down this service at the end of today.
Emergency services, including the SES and CFA, have dealt with more than 170 calls for assistance over the past 36 hours, while our contractors are working through hundreds of cases, mostly for tree debris removal.
We have notified Emergency Recovery Victoria that we have experienced a weather event and they have confirmed a Disaster Recovery Funding Arrangement has been activated. This means eligible costs will be claimable by the Shire.
To help our residents dispose of green waste from the storms, we are holding a No Charge Green Waste weekend on 13-15 September.
Now the weather has abated, we have started inspections on up to 800 beach boxes to address public safety concerns, with multiple teams in the field for the rest of the week.
We are coordinating with Municipal Building Surveyors and Environmental Health Officers to conduct Initial Impact Assessments on private properties that have been affected by the severe weather.
In conjunction with our Community Support Centres, the Shire's community care team have been conducting welfare checks and ensuring vulnerable clients still have access to essential services.
Our maternal and child health team yesterday prioritised young or vulnerable infants and completed home visits where safe to do so.
We are continuing to liaise with the Department of Families, Fairness and Housing to ensure 'power dependent' community members are being considered and we are proactively contacting community on the Vulnerable Persons Register.
We encourage residents to report any issues on Shire land to Report a problem - Mornington Peninsula Shire (mornpen.vic.gov.au)
Quote attributable to Mayor Councillor Simon Brooks:
"Once again, the Mornington Peninsula has found itself faced with the impacts and challenges of storm damage. Unfortunately, there has been a clear increase in the frequency of these extreme weather events.
"Our community relief hubs were operational by midday yesterday. We have been conducting welfare checks across our community and importantly ensuring those in need are looked after.
"While some of the initial effects, such as power outages, have been managed quickly and efficiently, we are now focussed on assessing the extent of the damage to property and our coastal environment.
"Together with our contractors, we are working through a priority list of cases involving tree debris removal, inspections of damaged property and initial impact assessments.
"With a lot of tree debris on private properties from the storm, we have decided to hold an additional No Charge Green Waste weekend for residents on 13-15 September. This will allow people to clean up their properties quickly and get rid of their green waste at no charge.
"I would also like to say an enormous thank you to our emergency services, who have been working non-stop since the early hours of Monday morning, clearing fallen trees, making safe fallen power lines and ensuring the safety of our community."
