Yarra Ranges Council established a program to assist the community of Mount Dandenong and its surrounding suburbs after the devastating storm of June 2021. The goal was to offer assistance, electrical and safety advice and emergency planning to support the community.

Emergency Services organised the storm cleanup, allowing volunteers and workers to remove the trees that fell on houses and unblocked the roads around the most affected areas. In addition, AusNet Services rebuilt the network in the areas hit by the storm and repaired the powerlines. During this time the Yarra Ranges Council opened a relief centre at the Kalorama Reserve, intending to provide food, water, fuel, shower facilities, phone-charging services, firewood, and essentials as well as help stranded residents to find emergency accommodation.

To make the centre viable and provide the appropriate infrastructure, the council worked with AusNet, and some trusted contractors to ensure the network was safe before reconnecting temporary power.

Lighton Electrics was called in during this emergency multiple times and attended in all of them within 90minutes to inspect, identify the issues, and leave a safe and reliable space. To find the most effective response and support the council with minimal downtime, the team worked into the night and weekends and commissioned all the equipment necessary to make the centre functional.

The team installed new electrical infrastructure to provide sufficient LED flood lighting to all the relief centre areas. With more demands and requirements being presented to the council’s at-site response team, as well as intending to give residents access to all basic needs, Lighton Electrics went back after hours to the relief centre to supply power to the newly acquired cool rooms and mobile kitchens and connected the infrastructure to support the use of hot water services for temporary bathrooms. All the installations were protected by safety switches then certified as being wired according to AS/NZ3000 wiring rules for safety.

Through the dedication and response of the Yarra Ranges Council and its supporting contractors, the Kalorama Relief Centre created a safe place and allowed the community to access essential services in a time of need.

This job was a significant contribution to protect the community during an environmental disaster, and we at Lighton were happy to be part of the team that delivered these services.

“During the event in the Dandenongs, the Council relied upon trusted local contractors like Lighton Electrics to respond when called and to deliver cost-effective and high-quality work, which helped us to deliver support to the community when they needed it most”. Paul Lacala – Yarra Ranges Council