Central Victorian State Emergency Service volunteers trekked down to Woodend to help clear the trail of destruction left behind by the Victorian storms.
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Over the course of a week, Woodend SES received 660 calls from people in need of tree clearing and building damages.
Volunteer deputy incident controller of Marong SES Emma Comello was based in Woodend last weekend and on Thursday and is gearing up for a busy weekend.
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"There's expected 60 kilometre and hour winds this weekend," she said. "The good news is the Dandenong's are expected to get less than first thought but it's all coming to Woodend. Particularly with trees so unstable from last week, it won't take as much for them to fall.
"I was working on Wednesday when we were gearing up and I was itching to get out.
"This is what we train for; this is what we put in hard work for and this is why we're proficient and confident to get out and make a difference."
Mrs Comello said the outpouring of community support through preparing lunches, giving donations and dropping off slices had been heartwarming.
The volunteer of seven years was called up to support the chainsaw activities and building damage on the rooftops in and around Woodend.
"The priority is clearing anything life threatening and keeping roads open, particularly for emergency services," she said.
"As jobs stopped rolling in, we turned our work to clearing the trees down in driveways.
We'd stop off at a house, clear the trees and do a welfare check where we'd find people who were trapped for four days.
- Emma Comello
"This happened to multiple crews, multiple times."
Russell Harley has been volunteering for nine years at the Bendigo SES and went down to Kyneton last Friday for a shift dedicated to clearing trees.
"When I arrived I was made a crew leader for a Marong truck with a Marong driver and Bec from Gisborne," he said. "We had two fire trucks and a fire ute, we had a convoy which was great and we had the big chainsaw which everyone loved.
"There were so many jobs being called in that they couldn't control how many were being down by friends and neighbours before you get there so sometimes during the shift you're standing around.
"They wanted us down there for chainsaw road jobs and working at heights on rooftops. When we got there, we did three chainsaw jobs and one rooftop; you're never sure what you'll land on, sometimes there's a tree down and you could be there for six hours or 10 minutes."
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Mr Harley had wanted to volunteer for the SES for a long time before he started. As a semi-retired tree maintenance worker, he brings a lot of skills to the table.
"I'm the one they go to with the chainsaw stuff and I did a lot of training for the rooftop jobs three years ago so this is ideal work for me," he said. "For the younger people, absolutely, 100 per cent this is a great opportunity.
"Bec asked if I was coming down agin because she wanted to be there so she could learn more chainsaw experience with me guiding her. For some people, they may have done the training but they haven't had much opportunity to put it into practice so work like this fills the confidence up.
"The SES is something I always wanted to do. When I came back to Bendigo, I put my hand up to join as I had the time and opportunity."
Marong SES incident controller Trent Knight said seven volunteers from the unit were deployed to Woodend for four days in a row for 12 hour shifts.
"To put it in perspective, the Woodend SES had 660 calls in a week, that's around what we would expect in anywhere from four to six years," he said. "There's been an incredible volume of damage done.
"A lot of the work was around access to roads, particularly around Trentham which was isolated. One crew was dedicated to running around to different spots with a chainsaw.
"For our crews, it's an opportunity to do what they're trained to do and if something happens here, we are better prepared."
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