Sandbag scramble as region soaked

SES on flooding alert

GEELONG was drenched on Thursday, with multiple properties affected by flooding as heavy rain swept through the region.

State Emergency Service members at St Albans Reserve in Thomson saw a steady stream of people coming to collect sandbags to keep water at bay.

Waurn Ponds resident Hannah Lucas said she was grabbing about 11 bags to help her mother-in-law.

“Her garage is flooding because of a vacant lot next door,” she said.

“It’s like a swimming pool. She’s got no drainage, so it’s just completely flooded.

“It’s coming through the wall (of the garage) now too.”

A SES spokesman said members from Geelong had responded to many calls for help.

“There’s been a lot of requests for sandbags,” he said.

The SES on Thursday said crews in Geelong, Bellarine, Bannockburn and Torquay had attended 31 callouts in the 24-hour period to noon, with all but four relating to flooding assistance.

Bannockburn felt the brunt of persistent rainfall, with local crews attending 12 callouts, followed by 10 for Geelong crews, six for Bellarine teams and three for Torquay.

The Bureau of Meteorology was forecasting a high chance of showers for the Geelong and Surf Coast area on Friday, with a maximum of 17C.

At the weather bureau’s Geelong Racecourse site, about 28mm of rain was recorded between 3am and 3pm Thursday.

The VicEmergency website issued a warning shortly after 1pm on Thursday following a landslide on the Great Ocean Road just north of the Separation Creek and Wye River townships.

“Stay informed,” the warning said.

“Stay away from the landslide.

“The slope may continue to move for hours or days afterwards.

“Stay away from the impacted area to allow emergency services to help affected communities.

“Plan your trip in advance – travel may take longer due to closed roads and poor driving conditions.”

Victorians were also urged to defer all non-essential travel as extreme weather continued to affect road and public transport networks.

Coaches were replacing V/ Line trains between Warrnambool and Geelong.

The Transport Department warned those conducting essential travel to allow extra travel time for affected journeys.