Services suffer from storm damage

Storm damage to the Peninsula left much of the Peninsula without power, without mobile phone coverage, without rail services and with roads to Gosford and Sydney cut.

One family in a pole home was reported trapped when a falling tree demolished their access stairs.

However, generally, damage to homes and business premises was minor, given the ferocity of the storm.

Awnings and signage of businesses were damaged on the Esplanade in Ettalong, in Blackwall Rd in Woy Woy, and at a service station in Ocean Beach Rd in Umina.

As Peninsula News went to press on Monday, many homes were still without power and mobile phone coverage had not been restored.

No estimates were available of when services would be restored.

Shortages of candles, batteries and ice were reported as residents attempted to make alternative arrangements.

Over the four days of the storm, from last Wednesday, travel from and around the Peninsula was affected by the wild weather.

A landslip at Wondabyne and a tree across the line at Woy Woy interrupted train services.

Woy Woy Rd was closed to Kariong for some time as a result of a car accident near Staples Lookout.

At another time, access from the Peninsula to Kariong via the Pacific Hwy was closed when a tree fell across the road between West Gosford and Kariong.

Trees fell across roads on the Peninsula, at Pearl Beach and at Patonga.

Brickwharf Rd in Woy Woy was closed for fear of loose roofing from the St Vincent de Paul building blowing onto the roadway.

Roads were closed over the weekend as crews worked to remove trees and restore power.

Traffic lights went out as power to the Peninsula was cut, and then with power restored remained flashing yellow.

Powerlines were down in Mt Ettalong Rd and Woy Woy Rd and Bourke Rd was closed in one direction on Saturday morning to repair storm damage.

At Umina Beach, waves swept right up to the dunes and sand was washed across the Esplanade at Ettalong.

Trading in Umina was affected with shops on the northern side of West St closed because of power blackouts.

However, compared to other areas of the Central Coast, the Peninsula got off relatively lightly.

It was not affected by flooding to the extent experienced elsewhere on the Central Coast and damage to homes was relatively light.

Rainfall on the Peninsula was less than half that experienced in Gosford, Mangrove Mountain and elsewhere on the Central Coast.

A total of more than 215mm fell in four days on the Peninsula, from Wednesday to Saturday, according to figures recorded by Mr Jim Morrison of Woy Woy.

By Monday morning, a total of 217mm had fallen, well above the annual average rainfall for June.

The average of 128mm was exceeded by Saturday morning.

Rainfall was recorded on the Peninsula at 9am each day: Thursday 18.5mm, Friday 42mm, Saturday 110mm and Sunday 45mm.

By comparison, Saturday's figure at Mangrove Mountain was almost three times as much, with a recording of 293mm.

Surprisingly, information about the extent of the damage and the status of repairs to services on the Peninsula was generally not available.

Apart from RailCorp, service providers were unable to provide Peninsula News with comprehensive local information.

The Rural Fire Service, the State Emergency Service and EnergyAustralia all said that their personnel were too busy attending to storm damage to be able to provide information to Peninsula residents through the services of Peninsula News.

Mark Snell, June 11