A STORM that hit Swan Hill and its surrounds on Thursday night has caused damage around the area.
Wind gusts of 133 km/h were recorded at Swan Hill around 8.30pm.
Swan Hill SES controller Darren Barnes said they received about 22 calls the night of the storm, and a further 10 calls on Friday morning. The reports were mainly for fallen trees and branches. There seemed to be little building damage and no reports of any injuries.
However, chief executive of the Swan Hill Jockey Club, Aaron Garvie, was shocked to find the roof of their main office blown off when he arrived on Friday morning.
“Based on the damage to the actual roof, plaster, paint and computer equipment, I’d say it’d be about $100,000 worth of damage,” Mr Garvie said.
While previous storms had caused damage to some of the other buildings at the Jockey Club before, the main office had usually been very sound.
“It will cause us a bit of an issue in the short term, and we’re just lucky that we haven’t got a race meeting next week,” Mr Garvie said.
“We’ll just go through the clean-up and repair process and move on.”
The Swan Hill aerodrome also took a hit in the storm, with some small planes blown around and damaged in the wind.
Barry O’Brien from the aerodrome wasn’t overly surprised to find the planes in a different spot to where they were left.
“I wouldn’t say it was a shock, no … when aeroplanes are parked out in the open it is always a risk,” Mr O’Brien said.
“Aeroplanes have been twisted and blown around without damage before. But that’s the first time we have seen one sitting up like that (pictured).”
The recovery process for the storm will take a couple of days, and residents are still urged to take caution and watch out for debris.
