SES responds to bout of wild weather

THE Geelong region was lashed by rain on Friday last week, with the Bureau of Meteorology recording 50 millimetres of rain in just 45 minutes.

Heavy rain caused flooding and damage around Geelong, promoting a significant response from local emergency services.

Across six hours, State Emergency Service (SES) units responded to more than 170 requests for assistance in the region.

Geelong unit volunteer Marion Petersen said they received the first call for help at 3.45pm that day and didn’t return to the unit until around 10pm.

“The areas that were badly impacted were Breakwater, a small section of St Albans Park, Whittington, Moolap and Newcomb, but Whittington took the absolute brunt of it,” she said.

Ms Petersen said the majority of calls were for water entry and one for building damage, with loose tiles on a roof.

The South Barwon Unit also attended four calls in the Geelong area for people trapped in their cars in flood waters.

Units from Colac, Bannockburn, Corio, Torquay, Bacchus Marsh, Barwon South West Regional Unit and regional staff also headed to the region to assist local teams.

Ms Petersen said it wasn’t until they received warnings from the Bureau of Meteorology and SES a few hours before the storm that they realised how significant the rainfall was going to be.

Despite water levels subsiding, residents who experienced flooding are now dealing with the clean-up.

“After you’ve had water go through your property there’s some very specific information about how to clean up because there’s a lot of bacteria,” Ms Petersen said.

The flash flooding serves as a timely reminder to keep out of flood waters, with many residents seen driving through, swimming and boogie boarding during Friday’s rain.

Ms Petersen encourages the community to familiarise themselves with where to get information and to continue monitoring conditions during emergencies. For more information on cleaning up after a flood and how to better prepare, head to ses.vic.gov.au.