A week of wild weather has lashed the region with steady rain and fierce winds causing chaos across the Macedon Ranges.
From Tuesday to Friday, Woodend SES attended 42 callouts/requests for assistance including a floodwater road rescue (see report, page 5), trees down and structure damage.
A Woodend SES spokesperson said 38 of those calls for help were trees down across roads, two on buildings and one on vehicle.
“The consistency of rain meant that trees fell with a little bit of wind because the ground is so wet and soft,” they said.
“Calls for assistance were fairly constant throughout the week due to the rain.”
On Thursday there were reports of trees down in Springfield, Lancefield, Barkers Creek, Pastoria, Harcourt North, Kyneton, Mount Macedon, and building damage at Mount Macedon and Castlemaine.
The Bureau of Meteorology had issued severe weather warnings for Thursday in central Victoria in late afternoon Wednesday. A ‘flood watch’ was also issued for the Campaspe River.
Damaging winds averaging 60 to 70 km/h with peak gusts of about 100km/h and some flooding was expected, and indeed experienced, particularly for those in the east of the shire.
According to BoM, Redesdale recorded 7mm of rain at 8pm within the hour on Wednesday, with wind gusts between about 40-53km/h from 5pm to 7pm.
Kilmore Gap recorded wind gusts between about 70km/h to 96km/h between 4pm and 7pm, reaching a peak of 96km/h at 4.30pm. Wind gusts of about 30 to 65km/h continued throughout the night and into the early morning. On Thursday, wind gusts recorded for Kilmore Gap were between about 50 to 76km/h from 6.30am to 10am.
In the 48 hours to 9am Wednesday, significant rainfall was observed in the Campaspe catchment, including 68.4mm at Redesdale and 56.2mm at Heathcote. As of 11am Wednesday, Lake Eppalock was 43.0 per cent full, with negligible downstream flows into the Campaspe River.
Woodend SES reminded residents to use extra caution in windy and wet weather conditions.
They urged residents to drive with care, drive with lights on in low visibility, slow down, not to park under trees, stay away from fallen powerlines, and not to attempt to cross floodwaters.
“A small car can float in 15cm of water and can travel quite far,” a spokesperson said.
“The other thing is that you never know the condition of the road underneath the floodwaters. There could be potholes or large parts of the roads that have washed away, making it very dangerous for anyone trying to cross.”
VOLUNTEERS NEEDED
Woodend SES members are all volunteers and the team is always looking for more members.
There are a range of ways people can be involved from active rescues to administration and support.
Woodend SES trains on a Wednesday from 7.30pm to 9.30pm. People interested in learning more about joining can visit the website: vic.ses.com.au or visit the station during a training session. Woodend SES will also host an open day in September.
