Tornado recovery underway in Horsham North

Published on 08 December 2020

Horsham Rural City Council is offering a kerbside waste collection for residents directly affected by Monday’s Horsham North tornado.

The SES received 97 requests for assistance on Monday, with more than 60 units from across Victoria assisting with the recovery effort.

Council is assisting by:

• Extra kerbside collection and clean up assistance for the immediate area
• Building assessments by surveyors to see whether houses need to be demolished
• First point of call for social and emergency housing support (delivered via Uniting Wimmera)

Chief Executive Officer Sunil Bhalla said Council crews had begun clearing fallen trees and collecting damaged building materials such as roofing tiles and corrugated iron.

A special kerbside collection started Tuesday morning and will continue for the next week.

“Green waste and hard rubbish should be separated and placed neatly on nature strips,” Mr Bhalla said.

“There are many Council trees that have been damaged, so our crews will clean those up along with any that are on private property.

“For hazardous waste – including broken glass or asbestos, firstly contact your insurance agent or landlord and then notify Council by calling 5382 9777.”

Mr Bhalla said Council’s building inspectors also had a part to play in the recovery.

“If houses are damaged to an extent where the property values are reduced, then we can conduct midyear re-evaluations, and in some circumstances, people’s Council rates can be reduced,” he said.

“However, there needs to be severe structural damage.”

The storm was officially labelled a tornado by the Bureau of Meteorology, with winds reaching 177 kilometres per hour.