From: Chris Morley (Gippsland Coordinator)
Date: Sat, 4 Jan 2020 10:40:42 +1100
Subject: Gippsland Fires Update
Gippsland Fire Update
4th January 2020
- Very large areas of Gippsland still under threat from multiple existing and newstart fires, and extreme fire behaviour is being observed.
- Incident is continuing with fires likely to progress for weeks, if not months.
- Relief and recovery phases have commenced and are ramping up.
- Major roads including the Princes Hwy, the Great Alpine Road and the Monaro Hwy remain closed. When safe, escorted convoys have been allowed to travel along certain sections.
- Media is now flooded with info from many sources from across the region.
- Electricity supply to East Gippsland is still interrupted. Portable generators are installed in several locations to provide limited emergency supply.
- Public telecommunications are also interrupted and portable generators are being progressively deployed to restore services. As of this morning, Telstra mobile sites at Nowa Nowa, Cann River, Buchan, Sarsfield and possibly Gilantipy are operational. Satellite phones have been delivered to some remote and isolated communities.
- The amateur repeater network is largely off the air, probably due to lack of power supply. Some sites may have been directly affected by fire. It could be some weeks until the sites can be reached for inspection. The Mt Taylor UHF repeater, which is currently linked to the Carrajung UHF repeater, is still operational, although Mt Taylor has been under direct threat a few times, and currently has an ‘Evacuate Now’ warning to the area immediately north.
- WICEN Vic is connected with the RCC for the Gippsland fires, but has not been activated (at least not in Gippsland) and remains on standby
- WICEN members should monitor local repeaters when possible
- The Gippsland Comms Plan has been recirculated to Gippsland members
Chris Morley VK3CJK
Gippsland Coordinator
