By AIDAN KNIGHT, BLAKE METCALF-HOLT AND KATRINA BRANDON
SEEMINGLY out of nowhere, the Latrobe Valley and broader Gippsland region was hit with chaotic, slow-moving thunderstorms and eventual heavy rainfall last Friday (February 27).
Beginning in the early hours of the morning, around 4am, loud thunder and lightning persisted for hours and beckoned a strong downpour with more than 50mm collected over the day.
Many Latrobe Valley locals pronounced it as one of the longest thunderstorms experienced in the area in over 50 years.
Lightning strikes were recorded particularly in the Churchill and Yallourn North areas.
Warnings for flash floods were issued by the Bureau of Meteorology (BoM) for affected areas such as Traralgon, Sale, Mt Baw Baw and Maffra.
Further west however, Moe and Newborough copped quite the punch from the prolonged storm.
At around 10.30am, residents driving along Narracan Drive were slowed down at the traffic lights to turn off to Dinwoodie Dr, as the area was submerged in water due to the rapid rain, covering the intersection and up the latter road.
A car became bogged in the water while trying to go around, with some drivers forced to use the footpath to eventually get past.
That incident, and similar occurrences on Moore Street, were quickly cleared up and traffic returned to normal within the hour.
The Moe exit onto Old Gippstown Dr was also blocked off for a period of time with substantial amounts of water on the road.
V/Line also announced at 11.45am that the Gippsland Line would be down following an equipment fault due to the weather and ultimately resumed between Morwell and Traralgon at 1.48pm.
Most worryingly, during all of this commotion, four fire trucks responded to a building fire at the Yallourn Power Station at 11.50am.
While dealing with road submersions, firefighters made an abrupt turnaround on Narracan Dr before turning up Ollerton Avenue to head to Yallourn North.
Both CFA and FRV units worked on the blaze, which was located within one of the power station’s raw coal bunker buildings.
The fire started when lightning made contact with active embers, reportedly reaching 40 metres wide and 20 metres high by the time emergency services responded.
Breathing apparatuses were used by firefighters to operate in the confined space, as they continued to reduce the blaze from the exterior until it was deemed under control at 4.48pm.
At the height of the operation, around 40 personnel were on the scene, with 10 fire trucks and two air support units.
No significant damage was detected, and no one was injured; however, WorkSafe was immediately notified.
An Energy Australia spokesperson told the Express that there was no impact on generation for the power station following the incident.
AusNet reported close to 20 outages in the Latrobe Valley, including Boolarra, Yinnar, Churchill, Hazelwood South, Moe, Glengarry, Yallourn North and Morwell.
VicEmergency pulled the severe thunderstorm warning at 10.52am after previously expecting it to extend into the afternoon.
The event followed storms across Victoria on Sunday, February 22 and thunderstorms in the Latrobe Valley from Tuesday to Wednesday (February 24 and 25).
However, neither were as immense and continuous as Friday’s thunderstorm.
More than 14mm was recorded on Tuesday at the Latrobe Valley Airport, with 10.8mm at 4.50pm before a sudden rise to 14.2mm at 11.50pm.
From sunshine to sudden gloom, the storm appeared around 4pm, bringing heavy rain, thunder and lightning.
Authorities warned throughout Monday, February 23 that severe weather was expected to hit across the state, alerting that some river systems may flood.
Catchments that were predicted to flood included Latrobe River, Traralgon River, Thomson River and the Macalister River.
According to the State Emergency Centre, up to 310 calls were made to emergency services throughout the Tuesday, February 24 event, with reports of building damage, flash flooding and fallen trees across Victoria.
Up north in the Mansfield-Woods Point area, a bushfire continued to burn despite the heavy downpours.
Residents in the area evacuated to nearby towns, such as Rawson and Licola before the storm.
The bushfire was deemed contained on Sunday, March 1 after previous warnings.
It was also reported on Friday that a magnitude 2.9 earthquake hit off the coast of Inverloch.
At a depth of 10 kilometres with an epicentre, the SES only received one felt report and non-associated requests for assistance.
