Property losses rise with Victoria’s wild weather

ABC NEWS (Australia)

More than 25,000 Victorians are still without power following the states storm and fire disasters. The number of homes destroyed have risen to almost 60.

Transcript

00:00 Driving into the small township of Pomona, Tuesday's destruction is all around you.

00:10 Over the last 24 hours, residents have returned to assess the damage from the bushfire.

00:15 44 properties have now been confirmed lost around the Grampians in Victoria's West,

00:20 homes like Damon Henrickson's.

00:23 Yeah, this was actually two dwellings, so it was all my family, but there's eight people in total in here.

00:28 It's a lot of people that are now looking for somewhere to sleep.

00:31 Local firefighters did manage to save some homes.

00:35 It's pretty emotional to know the community members have put their lives on the line,

00:45 protecting our houses, and they've lost their own.

00:47 You know, it's really hard to deal with.

00:51 The question for so many here in Pomona in this recovery is where to begin.

00:56 Just days ago, they were in their homes, they were running their businesses,

01:00 and now this landscape, their properties, their community is just so unfamiliar.

01:08 It's not the only community starting down the recovery road.

01:11 In the east, extreme storms have left 16 homes uninhabitable, while one man lost his life.

01:18 Margaret Whiting's veranda was smashed to bits.

01:21 I saw it out of our dining room window, and I thought, "Ah!"

01:26 In the thick of the wild weather, Lauren Banks tried to ring triple zero

01:30 when she saw a woman trapped in her car by a fallen tree.

01:33 The first time, it was probably about a 10-minute wait, and we got cut off.

01:40 And then the second time, I couldn't get through at all.

01:44 25,000 homes in Victoria are still without power, and it could be weeks until they're all reconnected.

01:52 So for now, people are left queuing for petrol for their generators.

01:56 Writers.

01:58 [BLANK_AUDIO]

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