The Outrageous Storm

The day after my last post, when I described seeing 17 black cockies flying in a group, an outrageous storm thrashed the Gembrook landscape and indeed all of the Dandenongs and the southern half of of Victoria.
Black cockies are reputed to be a sign of rain within a few days and I've always felt them to be an accurate indicator, although it may be light rain or showers of not much consequence. I will be interested to note if next time I see a large number in a group there's a storm the next day.
We were without electricity for 32 hours. On the other side of town some people, including Huite and the Smiths had no power for 72 hours. Huite rang me on the Saturday to say his electricity was not yet reconnected and that he and Wilma had spent a lot of time in bed as there was nothing else to do. It was so cold they had get close and personal, refreshing his memory of an earlier time in life when he and Wilma spent a lot of time in bed because there was nothing else they'd rather do. I was amused and encouraged to think of Huite still after it at age 72, even if a blackout was the catalyst.
There was not a lot of rain with the storm. It raged for several hours starting early on the Wednesday. I had to do a road trip with the trailer to Keysborough in Melbourne, taking our mulcher to the manufacturer for an overhaul. It was difficult to keep the carryvan on the road such was the force of the gale, debris flying across the road to make for a scary trip.
We suffered no serious damage. Half an old forked peppermint came down to block our drive and several trees came down along my walk. A large blackwood in the yard of the house below us, two large peppermints along Launching Place rd., a huge pine in the woodland behind the station and the spotted gum opposite the CFA in Innes Rd brought the power lines down. There were many other trees and power lines down around the town. It was a miracle there wasn't more damage to life and property.