By Mikayla van Loon
Lilydale SES members are sitting on standby today after what was a reasonably quiet night for the crew having expected flood waters to rise higher than they did.
Unit controller Shaun Caufield said compared to the inner city areas and regional parts of the state, Lilydale and surrounding suburbs were rather calm on Thursday 13 October but the risk hasn’t subsided yet.
“We certainly had a couple of calls for cars stuck in flood waters,” Mr Caulfield said.
“We dodged a bullet in the Valley but that’s not to say we’re not at risk.”
The rain was light to medium across the Yarra Ranges area overnight but with paddocks, riverbeds and other open spaces already soggy underfoot from previous rain, Mr Caulfield said the water had nowhere to go.
“The grounds are saturated so the water is going into the waterways rather than soaking in the ground,” he said.
A moderate flood warning has been issued for the Yarra River from Millgrove to Warrandyte between Friday 14 and Sunday 16 October.
Mr Caulfield said he remains concerned about the flood risk, with crews sitting on an increased level of readiness.
“Even if it doesn’t rain a lot, there’s still water coming from the Upper Yarra catchments and from the hills.”
Although not particularly deep, with water sitting on roads and in paddocks, Mr Caulfield said there is a chance flood waters could get worse.
Lilydale’s swift water rescue crews are also on standby with the potential of being sent to help in other parts of the state either overnight or tomorrow.
Mr Caulfield said, however, with the Yarra River being one of the main rivers throughout Melbourne and the risk of flooding over the weekend being high, Lilydale crews may be required to stay close.
Maroondah group SES, alongside Lilydale SES members, held a sandbagging collection point on Thursday 13 October where 400 sandbags were made available.
Mr Caulfield said at this stage there are no active sandbag collection points in the eastern suburbs but this may change depending on the flood situation.
Lilydale SES will be posting updates throughout the day on its Facebook page. A watch and act warning has been issued for much of the state, with the SES urging people to avoid flooded roads.
To keep up-to-date, go to www.emergency.vic.gov.au/respond/
