March 2021 storm across NSW brings wild weather to Wagga as SES respond to fall trees, blocked gutters

Between Sunday and Monday mornings, crews had responded to 26 call-outs across the southern zone, which extends from Balranald to Parkes and down to the Victorian border.

Most call-outs have come from Junee, Wagga and Tumut, with help rendered for fallen trees and leaking roofs mostly.

"Crews did most of the jobs yesterday [Sunday] during those high winds," said a State Emergency Services (SES) spokesperson.

Jason McDonell, unit commander for the Wagga SES branch, told The Daily Advertiser that so far there has been "nothing too major".

On Sunday, three SES teams responded to reports of fallen trees in Kooringal, Central and Tolland.

One clipped a car as it came down, another hit a house and caused damage to the roof tiling.

At the moment, Mr McDonell said, the Riverina crews are not expecting too much of an increase to call-outs this week, with river water levels expected to remain under control.

"The Bureau [of Metereology] is forecasting nice rain [this week] but it's not as bad as they have up north," Mr McDonell said.

"Wind and rain will affect the trees, they might come down."

To help with the statewide response, Mr McDonell said a Wagga-based team of SES volunteers are currently on standby to join efforts up north should assistance be required.

"Depending on how long it goes for, we might need to send some teams up there to give them a hand," Mr McDonell said.

As well as trees, the SES volunteers have been responding to a lot of residential leaks due to blocked drainage.

"[When] the gutters are blocked, all of a sudden you've got water coming through the light fittings or down the walls," Mr McDonell said.

"Don't play around with electricity. If that happens, switch off the light, tell the kids not to play with it, and give us a call."

SES volunteers can be contacted for call-outs on 132500.