Storm Damages Affect Barwon Coast Caravan Parks, Campground

According to a report, around 200 trees have been damaged across Barwon Coast’s coastal reserves in the latest storms. This forced Barwon Heads Caravan Park to shut down for the Melbourne Cup weekend.

Director of Barwon Coast Coastal Operations Paul Gangell affirmed that 60 trees also had been significantly affected by the storm. The trees were located in Barwon Heads Caravan Park, Riverview Family Caravan Park in Ocean Grove, and the Riverside Campground along the Ocean Grove Spit.

The stormy weather affected Geelong, the Bellarine Peninsula, and the Surf Coast on October 29.

Strong winds and thunderstorms that reached speeds of up to 100km/h knocked branches and trees down on power lines and other infrastructure.

Buildings were damaged, and fallen trees plus power cuts affected coastal reserves and caravan parks run by Barwon Coast in Ocean Grove, Barwon Heads, and along 13th Beach.

Barwon Coast staff worked incredibly hard under extremely difficult conditions to communicate with campers while at the same time safely respond to the storm damage,” Gangell said.

“As a result of the quick response to the damage, there were no resulting injuries, and Barwon Coast were able to reopen our coastal trails and access ways on the day of the storm.

“Riverview Family Caravan Park was quickly made safe and was able to open to visitors from Saturday for the long-awaited Melbourne Cup Weekend.”

Barwon Heads Caravan Park is scheduled to re-open on November 12.

Barwon Coast CEO Gary McPike discerned the effect the storms caused on customers of the caravan parks.

“With Melbournians finally allowed to visit regional Victoria for the first time in months, we understand the closure was disappointing for many of our customers,” he said.

“We thank all those affected for their patience as we work to repair the damage and restore safety to the caravan park.”

Barwon Coast Staff and contractors have been working nonstop to ensure our public areas and camping sites are safe once opened.”

“While the major works have been done to make our coastal reserves safe, the clean-up continues to be a big job. We will be working over the coming weeks to continue removing fallen trees and debris. We thank the public for their patience during this time.”