By Cam Lucadou-Wells
A traffic light signal has gone adrift in flood waters and come to rest under a parked car as a result of an intense hailstorm in Berwick on 25 November.
A short, spectacular burst of gales, rain and hail caused a “six-inch deep” river of debris, including the green traffic light, to run down Moondarra Drive about 5pm, resident Monica Spiteri said.
She tracked down where the green traffic light belonged – two corners and more than 200 metres away at the major intersection of Clyde and Greaves roads.
The missing signal had yet to be replaced two days later, Ms Spiteri said.
Fortunately there was no other sign of damage from Ms Spiteri’s vantage point inside her home.
“I enjoyed the storm.
“All the neighbours came out to congregate – it was a good way to catch up.”
According to the Bureau of Meteorology, about 30 millimetres fell in 21 minutes during the localised storm.
Berwick was by far the most storm-wracked suburb in the state during that 48-hour period, an SES spokesman said.
Narre Warren SES unit was the busiest in the state, responding to 168 call-outs on the weekend. Some 133 of those requests were in Berwick.
To demonstrate how localised the storm was, the nearby Pakenham unit received just 21 call-outs.
“Most of those jobs were pretty standard – there was quite a bit of damage due to trees down on roads and homes,” the SES spokesman said.
There were also reports of buildings damaged by flooded gutters as well as water seeping inside home walls.
No significant rescues were conducted.
Meanwhile, the BOM is predicting a similar pattern of a hot-spell followed by storms to strike greater Melbourne later this week.
