By Oliver Lees
An analysis of the aftermath of the extreme weather that tore through the Macedon Ranges in June has found that almost 1000 homes suffered damage across the shire.
The Secondary Impact Assessment (SIA) was carried out by Macedon Ranges council’s recovery team, who have been engaged with the clean-up effort since the storm occurred on June 9.
The extreme rain and weather event uprooted many trees and took down power lines which caused outages in parts of the shire.
Recovery team staff have been phoning residents and landowners since the beginning of September.
According to the data, approximately 200 households had not previously reported damage on their property before receiving a call from council.
Macedon Ranges council municipal recovery manager Tony Grimme said it was important for council to have a full picture of the damage in order to plan for future emergency situations.
“This [data] indicates many local property owners have been tackling debris on their own properties or securing contractors and activating claims through their insurance companies, without accessing other support,” Mr Grimme said.
“This shows admirable community resilience but we are aware some people may only just now be recognising some tasks are beyond them,” Mr Grimme said.
“They may still need extra on-ground resources or personal support and counselling to help them recover and get on with their lives.
“Consolidating the information on the damage caused to private properties will give us a clearer
picture of what work still lies ahead as part of long-term recovery across the shire.”
Mr Grimme sid landowners could in future landowners should register damage with Bushfire Recovery Victoria or through council directly.
“Not only can we help people with organising Bushfire Recovery Victoria’s site assessments and
referrals to social support services like Sunbury Cobaw Community Health, we can identify gaps in the delivery of recovery services to help plan for the next major incident in our community,” he said.
