Little time to dry out
DAMIEN BROWN
September 29, 2009 08:23am
THERE are 20 or more days of wet weather forecast for next month.
The forecast gives the State little time to dry off after a record-breaking September with 22 days of rain so far and more than 2½ times the normal average.
And Tasmanians would be wrong to think that the weekend storm that battered the state with 100km/h winds and more than 50mm of rain in some areas and resulted in towering 14m waves was "an only child".
Weatherzone meteorologist Brett Dutschke said it was a close relation of the duststorm that intensified over Central Australia and hit Sydney with an eerie red shade last week.
"Like the dust, this storm was very unusual in the way it moved and the way it formed," Mr Dutschke said.
"The duststorm formed over the desert with a number of thunderstorms and picked up the dust but then moved very slowly across Central Australia and then over Sydney in a direction that we would not usually expect at this time of the year.
"It is also unusual for it to have intensified over land.
"In the same way, the low that formed south of Tasmania, instead of dust, picked up a great amount of water very close to the island instead of several hundred kilometres offshore, which is unusual. It then intensified and moved very slowly with heavy rains and strong southerly winds.
"So they were both very similar in their formation and characteristics."
Mr Dutschke said Tasmania was battered from a southerly direction, which was unusual because the state would normally expect westerly weather.
Rainfall had been well above average for most of the year and this was likely to continue into October, he said.
State Emergency Service regional manager Geoff Marsh said most of his crews had completed repair work by late Sunday night.
"It was a massive day for us with 180 calls for assistance and we attended in the order of 60 jobs," Mr Marsh said.
"I have some guys around here that have said they have not seen weather like this for 50 years."
Mr Marsh said he believed communities and emergency service personnel were well placed to handle emergencies.
"It is just hard that, with the water table full, there are always going to be floods and there is nothing anyone can do about that," he said.
"But it is a timely reminder to make sure your drains are cleaned out and you maintain your drains because that is where a lot of flooding occurred at the weekend."
Insurance companies continued to field calls yesterday, with the damage bill coming in at just under $1 million.
RACT Insurance chief executive Trent Sayers said more than 300 claims had been lodged with a total damage bill of about $500,000.
"At least seven claims so far received by RACT Insurance involve trampolines," he said.
"If they are not pegged down adequately, they can become flying missiles in high winds, and claims received relate to trampolines that have damaged neighbouring properties and even wedged high up in trees."
More than half the storm damage claims were lodged in the state's South.
AAMI Insurance has urged all its customers to lodge a claim as soon as possible.
Tasmanian spokesman Steve Wilson said AAMI had received more than 200 claims with a value of $400,000.
The biggest claim was for a home that lost its roof in Burnie, with a damage bill of $150,000, he said.
The Burnie City Council has closed several roads, parks and reserves after hundreds of trees fell in Sunday's storm. |
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