2021 - THE YEAR THAT WAS …
The tree that went through the house. 256628
Trees down on Monbulk Road Monbulk.
STORMS
Picture: STEWART CHAMBERS
Mega storms unleashed Superstorm hell A Kalorama couple was lucky to escape Wednesday’s ferocious storm after trees crushed their house forcing them to flee the mountain on foot. Michael and Marilyn Deller were among numerous hills residents who lost their homes in the storm, which also caused widespread power outages, flooding and road closures. Marilyn Deller, 72, told ABC radio she thought she was going to die as howling winds, pouring rain and falling trees battered their three storey house in Jeeves Avenue. She and partner Michael retreated to a bedroom on the ground floor of their home after the power went out at 9pm. However, Marilyn said she couldn’t stand the noise of the escalating wind, which she described as sounding like “100 lions all roaring at once, coming to a fever pitch.” Home’s nine lives By Taylah Eastwell After counting the 20th tree fall on the night of the storm, Mandy Williams gave up counting. Sitting in her Monbulk lounge-room on the night of 9 June, with husband Spence nearby, Mrs Williams watched anxiously through her skylight windows as the tree tops “whipped around” in the gusty bursts of wind. “It was dark so you couldn’t really see anything, but I could see the tree tops against the night sky. Between all the rain and then all the leaves and branches that blew onto the roof, there was lots of noise, and then of course the trees started to fall down,” Mrs Williams said. “You could just hear them go thump. One fell and clipped the roof just outside where I was sitting but I thought it was just a branch. When I got up the next morning, it was a 45-metre tree and it just missed. Had it of been a bit taller, it would have got the house,” she said. With their Rankins Road property one of very few still full of trees, Mr and Mrs Williams woke up on Thursday (10 June) to absolute destruction. They had between 70 to 100 trees down on their property alone, with the view of trees from their back deck now a clear view of the neighbouring fence line as fallen trees cover the ground. “We woke up and couldn’t get out the door. We could see a lot of it off the back deck, and we just had no idea where to start,” Mrs Williams said. “I have always whinged I needed a bit more of a view and a bit more sun, so there is a positive.” Mrs Williams laughed. Trees to tell tale By Taylah Eastwell A group of Hills locals have joined forces in hopes of turning timber that fell during the June 9 storm into a commemorative community art project. Choosing to look at the disaster from a positive side, residents have attended a number of meetings to discuss ways in which the timber could be reused in the community. 8 MAIL
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Tuesday, 11 January, 2022
Volunteers from Habitat for Humanity help clear debris from the June storm.
Kalorama Rec Reserve. 241037 Creator of the Facebook page, ‘Rescue Logs – Keep our trees in the Dandenongs’, Julia Hall said one of the bigger projects being considered is a nature walk that follows the story of the storm using fallen logs. “It will explain the pathway the storm took and have different points that talk about a significant event from the storm, whether that be a tree into a house or the many trees that impacted Mt Dandenong Primary School as well as the many stories of human resilience,” Ms Hall said. “Telling our story and reliving that is part of our healing journey and everyone at our meetings has agreed. It’s really important to talk about it so you process it because the more we process it we realise we survived and came out the other end,” she said. The giving spirit By Parker McKenzie For most people, 2021 has been both difficult and challenging. For Cheryll Roach, it has been a year of tragedy and heartache.
Picture: PARKER MCKENZIE
SES member stands in comparison to fallen trees. “When my dad moved in with us in April, my husband and I frantically rushed around to get the place ready for him because he had his left leg amputated,” she said. “At the start of June my husband wasn’t feeling well, and on the 21st of July he was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer.” After Dale Roach was told he had three to 12 months to live, he passed away on the 11th of August. “I’m so overwhelmed by everything, trying to get things tidied up, just with everything that has happened,” Mrs Roach said. “It’s hard to ask for help sometimes. We were affected by the storms and as you can see a few trees came down.” On a 31 degree Friday afternoon in Cockatoo, four volunteers are helping Mrs Roach remove fallen trees from the June storm, stack firewood and burn off any potential fuel for the coming bushfire season. “Otherwise we would have been good. My husband and I would have tried to manage but
I’ve gone from full-time work to being a single parent now,” Mrs Roach said. “I’m just absolutely overwhelmed and so thankful. I just want to repay them back for the help.” The volunteers from Habitat for Humanity Victoria are more than happy to help and don’t ask for any repayment. Six volunteers arrived at Mrs Roach’s house at around 8.30pm. The four remaining by 2pm continue to busily split wood, wheelbarrow foliage to the fire and carry logs away even as their 3pm finishing time fast approaches. Rod Brooks is the volunteer supervisor for Habitat for Humanity at Mrs Roach’s house and he is hard at work as they power through the last hour of a long day. “When you hear that story, which I’m sure you have, it touches your heart,” he said. “You just think how hard is it to do something that blesses her and helps her along the way.” mailcommunity.com.au