The Storm of 2021

During the night of June the 9th and into the early morning of the 10th of June 2021, a devastating storm tore through the Dandenong Ranges. It was the most violent storm in Victoria’s recorded history¹. Trees fell in their thousands, blocked roads and destroyed homes. Largely unnoticed by the rest of the country and state, residents were without power for more than 2 weeks and roads took weeks to fully reopen. Miraculously there were no fatalities but there were acts of significant bravery, particularly by the members of the Kalorama-Mount Dandenong CFA whose actions were finally recognised on the 27th September 2026 with the award of the Unit Citation for Courage to 12 members of the brigade.

The Parks Victoria map on the left, taken from a community update² illustrates how badly Mount Dandenong and District was hit by the storm. The map was produced almost 6 weeks after the event to show the public what parts of the Dandenong Ranges National Park were open. The sites that they had managed to open were mostly at lower elevations as can be seen from the list.

Perhaps more revealing is the areas that remained closed. All the brown areas on the map to the left were still considered too dangerous for the public. The brown areas on the map constitute an enormous fraction of the area of Mount Dandenong.

When one considers that resident’s gardens were hit just as hard as the areas within the national park, one gets an inkling of the devastation wrought by the storm on Mount Dandenong.

Residents on Mount Dandenong, if they had managed to sleep at all, awoke to scenes never witnessed before. Giant trees lay across roads, homes were flattened beneath fallen boughs, and most of Mount Dandenong became isolated.

Roads were blocked and power was out for weeks and as a consequence, communications were extremely limited with local mobile tower batteries lasting less than half a day after mains power failed. Moreover, fallen trees blocked crews from accessing some sites to restore power to the towers³. The new NBN fibre system was exposed as vulnerable since power is required at both ends for the system to function.

The landscape was radically changed with residents able to see views following the storm that had been blocked by trees and so invisible.

Of more consequence than the extended but temporary loss of power, was the loss of property. The scale of the losses was large, and in an area where residents, well aware of bushfire as the enemy, it came as something of a shock to find that a storm could be just as destructive. The Insurance Council of Australia declared it an insurance catastrophe on 13 June 2021, with losses estimated at $281 million. More than 90% of claims were from householders for storm and water damage⁴.

In Kalorama alone, 44 houses were completely destroyed and 111 damaged⁵. Across the wider Yarra Ranges municipality, the Council recovery plan recorded 79 properties uninhabitable and another 50 badly damaged. It also estimated that more than 1,000 homes and businesses were heavily affected by storm debris, and almost 5,000 properties were affected by flooding⁶.

Not only were properties hit, so also were many vehicles.

With the help of local businesses and the council, locals started to organise relief centres including ones at Kalorama Memorial Reserve (Oval), St, Michael and all Angels Church Hall and the Community Barbeque at Kalorama lookout. These centres were crucial, not only for the physical support that they provided by issuing donations from local groups and businesses but perhaps more for the camaraderie, support and warmth that they offered to locals who in many cases had no heating in the middle of winter on the top of a mountain.

Eventually, the clear up began. It took many months to achieve anything like a level of normality such was the scale of effort required from Yarra Ranges Council, Ausnet, Telcos, Vic Roads, Parks Victoria, insurance companies and other agencies, not to mention local businesses residents.

Five years on, it is fair to say that the job is still not complete with a few residents still unable to return to their properties.

Kalorama- Mount Dandenong CFA brigade Unit Citation for Courage

Award recipients with Chief Officer Jason Heffernan at the Unit Citation for Courage award ceremony for Kalorama Mount Dandenong CFA

Finally, some recognition arrived for those who literally put their lives on the line that night. On the 27th September 2026, 12 members of the Kalorama- Mount Dandenong CFA brigade were awarded the Unit Citation for Courage