The Castlemaine SES were called out on Monday 2 January in response to calls for help after a freak hail storm swept through Maldon and surrounds.

Five requests for help were received and two crews were sent out to repair damaged roofs and windows.

“Mostly roofs, skylights and windows were damaged,” said Daniel Bone from Castlemaine SES.

“The path of the storm was fairly narrow so we dodged a bullet.”

The largest of the hail stones were the size of a billiard ball, while others had been measured at 4cm in diameter.

Daniel said that the SES crews worked until 1.30am placing tarps over damaged roofs and skylights.

The older laser light roofing received the worst damage, shattering from the impact of the heavy hail stones.

The crews were also sent out to assist with damage that had occurred in Marong and Eaglehawk.

Vic Emergency sent out a warning for people to stay indoors when the storm was due to hit at around 5pm on Monday.

A low-pressure system brought large-sized hail stones to surrounding areas including parts of Bendigo and Maryborough, and in Maldon.

Locally, many people reported damage to their windows and cars.

The Maldon Museum was hit by the hail, with nine small panes of glass being damaged.

Museum President Derek Reid and a helper managed to seal up the windows with plastic to prevent any further damage from the rain.

“We were lucky there was no damage internally as it could have been a lot worse,”

Derek told the Times as the Museum awaits an assessment of and repairs to the damage.

The Golf Club did not suffer any visible damage but is waiting on an inspection of the solar panels for a damage report.

In the main part of town, the hail damaged the marquee at the Maldon Hotel and there were reports of customers’ car windows being smashed.

Local resident Justine Walker spoke to the Times and said that her horses were hit badly by the hail and one poor little foal suffered welts on her body from the impact as Justine watched on helplessly.

Justine spent the entire time during the storm trying to save cars, gardens and pets.

She also experienced damage to laser light roofing. Russell Clarke from Grange Hill Historic Winery told the Times, “We luckily missed the hail as it would have done serious damage to the vines if it had hit.”

But he and partner Angelina Chaperon witnessed some serious black cloud action and had an anxious few moments while the storm passed them by.

Another Maldon resident, Faye Parson, had damage to her fernery, while their car and her husband’s work van suffered dints to the outside but luckily no broken windows.

The CFA was not called out to assist with calls for help but noted that the storm’s path had passed from the south up to the golf course.

Fogarty’s Gap Road was hit badly with water covering the road and broken trees shredded and blown around the area. 

This article appeared in the Tarrangower Times, 13 January 2023.