The 2003 Bendigo tornado was an F2

tornado A tornado is a violently rotating column of air that is in contact with both the surface of the Earth and a cumulonimbus cloud or, in rare cases, the base of a cumulus cloud. It is often referred to as a twister, whirlwind or cyclone, altho ...

which hit the city of

Bendigo Bendigo ( ) is a city in Victoria, Australia, located in the Bendigo Valley near the geographical centre of the state and approximately north-west of Melbourne, the state capital. As of 2019, Bendigo had an urban population of 100,991, makin ...

Victoria Victoria most commonly refers to: * Victoria (Australia), a state of the Commonwealth of Australia * Victoria, British Columbia, provincial capital of British Columbia, Canada * Victoria (mythology), Roman goddess of Victory * Victoria, Seychelle ...

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...

about 6.30 pm on 18 May 2003. Wind speeds ranged from 130 km/h to 150 km/h at the core of the storm. The city of Bendigo is located in Victoria, a southeastern state in Australia. This southeastern region of Australia has seen tornadoes in the past, but, according to the Bureau of Meteorology, the tornado was an unusual occurrence for central Victoria and the last similar event occurred in Wonthaggi in 1993.

Impacts and Casualties

The tornado traveled seven kilometers with a 500 meter wide path in less than ten minutes. The main areas hit were the city's northern suburbs of

Eaglehawk The wedge-tailed eagle (''Aquila audax'') is the largest bird of prey in the continent of Australia. It is also found in southern New Guinea to the north and is distributed as far south as the state of Tasmania. Adults of this species have lon ...

and California Gully which had severe damage and power outages. Overall, no one was injured, but the tornado left eight homes destroyed, 44 homes with serious damages, trees torn up, and power was lost in up to 18000 homes (located in Bendigo, California Gully, Eaglehawk, Epsom, Long Gully and Maiden Gully). Also, the tornado disrupted society as a whole with traffic disruption on the

Loddon Valley Highway The Loddon Valley Highway runs roughly north-west from Bendigo to Kerang on the Murray Valley Highway. It constitutes part of the direct route from Melbourne to the popular Murray River holiday areas around Swan Hill. Route Loddon Valley Hig ...

(runs from Bendigo to

Kerang Kerang is a rural town on the Loddon River in northern Victoria in Australia. It is the commercial centre to an irrigation district based on livestock, horticulture, lucerne and grain. It is located north-west of Melbourne on the Murray V ...

) and suspension of certain

V/Line V/Line is a statutory authority that operates regional passenger train and coach services in Victoria, Australia. It provides passenger train services on five commuter lines and eight long-distance routes from its major hub at Southern Cross ...

train lines. The damages were estimated to cost up to millions of dollars. There was flash flooding and minor damage across other suburbs of the city (including Strathfieldsaye and Flora Hill) and other parts of central Victoria experienced power outages.

Aftermath

Emergency efforts quickly started to get the area safe and electricity back into homes. Victims were also given assistance, including: * The Department of Human Services, a department with the responsibility of helping to provide aids and services to the people of Australia, helped those who became homeless due to storm damages. * The

State Emergency Service The State Emergency Service (SES) is the name used by a number of organisations in Australia that provide assistance during and after major incidents. Specifically, the service deals with floods, storms and tsunamis, but can also assist in oth ...

(SES), a volunteer organization that provides help after declared disasters, responded to 128 calls and 70 SES volunteers from 11 different units helped to rebuild houses. * The state government gave grants of up to $22800 which includes an emergency funding of $900 per household for people to purchase short-term accommodations and necessary supplies. * The Insurance Council of Australia covered wind and storm damages for the insured.

References

External links

* Photos
StormChasters
{{2003 tornado outbreaks Bendigo tornado Bendigo History of Victoria (Australia) F2 tornadoes Tornadoes of 2003 Tornadoes in Australia 2000s in Victoria (Australia) May 2003 events in Australia