Kalbarri SES March 2021 report:
Operations:
Storm Damage at South Murchison
On Wednesday March 7 we received a call to attend at station on Beringarra-Pindar Road, South Murchison after a storm had removed large sections of roof from the station homestead. We set off at about 1000hrs and drove east towards the location of the incident which was over 200km from Kalbarri. Although it was dry and fine in Kalbarri we soon found that conditions inland were much wetter causing us to traverse muddy and boggy roads and ford several creek crossings. We eventually came to the Murchison River crossing at Yallalonga only to find the water running fast at 2 meters over the road. We were forced to turn around and return to Kalbarri.
Four Kalbarri SES volunteers set off again first thing on Thursday morning using alternative routes and after being turned back again by fast flowing water we were eventually able to access the job location just after midday.
We found several large sections of roof had been torn from the building. We made a reconnaissance of the situation before forming a plan of how we could safely make temporary repairs to keep further rain out of the building. After 4 hours on the hot roof attached to a roof safety system, we completed a clean up of loose materials and fixed tarps over all the damaged areas making the building safe for habitation until permanent repairs could be effected. After a five hour drive back to Kalbarri we were glad to be home after an epic 2 day job!
Community Involvement:
On Clean Up Australia Day, Sunday March 7, Kalbarri SES volunteers manned the All Terrain Vehicle and quad bikes and travelled around the Kalbarri townsite locating and cleaning up litter. Our local SES volunteers regularly carry out litter patrols to help keep our town looking neat and tidy.
Training:
Tuesday night training during March included an evening at Wittecarra Beach where we practised recovery of bogged vehicles using a number of different methods including max tracks, snatch traps, winches and lots of digging.
