Washed away on Saturday

The violent weather in Melbourne yesterday had to be seen to be believed. A sunny start to the day rapidly changed when the sky grew increasingly dark after lunchtime, a super cell storm imminent. By 3pm, Melbourne was a scene of destruction.

I was in Coventry Street, South Melbourne in the midst of the storm, and below are some of the photos that I captured throughout. Enormous hail stones, coupled with the ferocity and intensity with which they fell resulted in blocked gutters and drains. The torrent of water not able to escape overflowed into streets and the water level rapidly rose. The hail also stripped trees of their green summer leaves which were quickly washed into drains resulting in further blockages.



The torrent of water along Coventry Street

The storm eventually passed through, leaving a trail of destruction and flooding in its wake. The journey home through Southbank later that afternoon was challenging to say the least. Low lying parts of City Road were cut off and vehicles stranded. The Whiteman and Clarendon Street junction was bought to a stand still as cars had to cautiously negotiate their way through the water. Pedestrians needed to wade through knee-deep ice-cold water to pass through the intersection.

Looking along Whiteman Street toward Claredon Street

Although water still remained in low lying areas yesterday evening, most of it had subsided by this morning, leaving a big clean-up job ahead for many homes and businesses. Rain is always welcome, but perhaps not so much in one hit next time!