Storm damage in Bullarto, central Victoria
© Steven FiumeStorm damage in Bullarto, central Victoria.
A week after ferocious winds damaged swathes of forest in central Victoria some locals are saying it is the worst storm damage they have ever experienced.

Resident Lily Langham said in the 35 years she had lived near Daylesford she had never seen anything like it.

"It looked like a logging coup," she said.

After driving through forest south of Daylesford to survey the damage, she said the one positive was hearing birds had returned to the forest.

The Bureau of Meteorology's Dr Blair Trewin said last week's storm was on a scale not seen in many decades.

The wild weather was highly unusual because of the wind direction and length of time such high winds lasted, Dr Trewin said.

"There's been 25 other times in the last 20 years when there have been wind gusts over 100km an hour [at Kilmore]," he said.

"But there's only been one case out of those 25 where winds have come from a similar direction to what they did this time."


Despite areas of forest in central Victoria being almost clear-felled, Dr Trewin said there was no evidence of tornadoes, which can occur in Australia.

But he said was difficult to know if there were extreme local winds around Daylesford and Trentham because the bureau does not have wind observation sites in the area.

Speaking to Jacinta Parsons on ABC Melbourne afternoons, forest science expert Dr Greg Moore said whole trees were more likely to be uprooted if soil was wet.

Another factor, which Dr Moore said could have led to so many trees falling in the recent storm, was the direction of the wind.

"[In Victoria we] expect winds from the north or the west, the trees have got used to those conditions over perhaps decades or centuries," he said.

"You start getting really strong winds from the east and many [trees] haven't acclimatised to that and can be blown over."

In fact 60 per cent of a large tree's root system is on the side prevailing winds come from, he said.

Dr Moore said that under climate change scenarios, warmer temperatures would lead to stronger winds and winds which come from unusual directions and cause more tree damage.

But Dr Trewin said while the recent storm was highly unusual it was difficult to attribute it to climate change at this stage.

"Is there evidence of climate change affecting the frequency of these types of coastal low-pressure systems or the areas in which they occur? As yet there's no clear evidence of that," he said.

Forest around Trentham and Daylesford was the areas hardest hit by the storm in central Victoria
© Steven FiumeForest around Trentham and Daylesford was the areas hardest hit by the storm in central Victoria.
Wombat Forestcare convener Gayle Osborne said she had never seen damage like this.

"We have had wind events in the past that took down trees and snapped big trees in half but we've never seen anything as ferocious as this and the extent covers the whole Wombat Forest," Ms Osborne said.

While it is too early for the group to explore the forest and survey the storm's impact, Ms Osborne said she was concerned there could be extensive damage to animal habitat.

"We have lost a lot of hollow bearing trees, that's habitat for ringtail possums, brushtail possums and particularly the greater gliders," she said.

Ms Osborne said Wombat State Forest had a population of greater gliders, which are listed as vulnerable to extinction.

"Gliders will be affected by climate change, habitat loss - so we're hoping there hasn't been too much damage to the gulleys they live in."

At the Hepburn Wildlife Shelter it is business as usual after the storm.

Founder Jon Rowden said he had not seen a big influx of storm affected animals but he had tended to some cockatoos and feathertail gliders suffering concussion or crushing injuries.

"Animals that are in hollows where the trees are weakest are the most likely to be the ones that are exposed when the trees come down," he said.

Mr Rowden said there could be some benefits from the damage to the forest - fallen logs could create more habitat for ground dwelling animals.

But he hoped the clean-up efforts would consider the habitat loss which could impact wildlife.

"The danger will be that the need for clean-up means the areas either get burned or bulldozed and then we lose more habitat."