Assistance and support following the storm

Council's Emergency Recovery Number is now active. You can this number on 03 5366 1323 to talk to a Recovery Officer, to get assistance with issues relating to your property following the storm. 

To notify Council about trees across roads, please phone 5366 7100.

Agriculture Victoria’s Ag Recovery Team can provide support to producers following the recent storms and floods across Victoria.

There is Agriculture Recovery support available in each of the regions affected including Central and southwest Gippsland, the Central Highlands, Macedon Ranges and the Yarra Valley and surrounds, to provide support with issues in livestock, dairy, cropping, irrigation and horticulture.

Agriculture Victoria can offer technical advice on:

• Pasture recovery and grazing management
• Soil erosion management
• Animal health, nutrition & feed budgeting
• Whole farm planning
• Water quality, budgeting
• Farm water reticulation and dam management
• Farm business planning

Producers and growers are encouraged to phone the Agriculture Victoria Ag Recovery Team on 0427 694 185 or email recovery@agriculture.vic.gov.au or visit agriculture.vic.gov.au 

Arborist-Contractor-List.pdf(PDF, 117KB)

Fencing-Contractor-List.pdf(PDF, 111KB)

If you are still experiencing issues with your septic tank from the power outages, please call our Environmental Health team 5366 1323. 

Council is continuing building inspections to assist with insurance claims. Please call our Recovery number 5366 1323 fto find out more.

If you need mental and emotional support after the event, these agencies can assist:

VCC Emergency Ministries – www.vccem.org.au/services/outreach/

Better Health Victoria - www.betterhealth.vic.gov.au/

Windermere – www.windermere.org.au/

Storm and Flood Recovery Support Hotline  – call 1800 560 760 and a Recovery Support Worker can assist you in accessing mental health support through Central Highlands Rural Health.

If you have property or contents insurance, reach out to your insurance company as soon as possible after the storm or flood.

• Ask your insurer for advice on actions you should take.
• Do not discard or throw away damaged items without first consulting your insurance company.
• Make a list of items that have been damaged and take photos, if possible.
• Keep receipts for any emergency repair work.

For assistance with insurance, contact the Insurance Council of Australia: 1800 734 621. To lodge a claim following a disaster. 

Compounding this event was the loss of power, communications, landlines and mobiles and network coverage.

More than 1000 homes were without power after the first 24 hours; and more than half the Shire did not have landlines, mobiles or network coverage. 

Given the scale of the event across the region, an Incident Control Centre was established in Ballarat to coordinate the response.

Council's staff and contractors are the ground in many areas of the Shire, who are continuing to work on the significant clean up task ahead.

Council has been coordinating meetings with emergency services, with several meetings held in Blackwood where communications and power were down until Monday night.

The relief and recovery team has been making phone calls to the majority of the Korweinguboora, Spargo Creek and Blackwood areas and will then move to Colbrook, Blakeville, Gordon North and Dales Creek/Greendale where homes have been destroyed and damaged. 

DLHV can provide free initial legal information and referrals to people affected by floods and storm about issues including:

• insurance claims
• lost and replacement documents
• property damage.

For more information, go to https://www.disasterlegalhelp.org.au or call their helpline (1800 113 432) which is staffed weekdays from 8am-5pm.