Surprise as floods hit hills

By Tania Martin
THE foothills were the hardest hit by a deluge last week after flash flooding took everyone by surprise.
Knox State Emergency Service (SES) was kept busy with more than 180 calls for assistance.
The unit’s deputy controller Karen Afif said the foothills were the worst area hit in the central region.
She said the flash flooding all started shortly after 1pm on Monday 3 December and took everyone by surprise.
“We predominantly had call-outs to flooding on the roads, in houses and businesses,” she said.
“A lot of the flooding of the houses was cause by leaves in gutters and we helped to clean out a lot of the gutters to prevent any further flooding.”
Ms Afif said the Knox unit worked from 1pm on Monday until midnight, with four vehicles out on the road assisting people.
The Emerald SES was also kept busy last Monday receiving more than 28 calls for help.
Rob Tillman of Emerald said the effects of the storm were felt across the Dandenongs from Olinda to Cockatoo.
He said the fitness centre in Emerald was damaged by water as the roof gutters were blocked and water flowing into the gymnasium.
In Ferntree Gully, staff from Graham Werner Toyota was shocked when the car yard started to flood.
In a matter of five minutes the car yard and the office filled with half a metre of water.
Anthony Calderone of Graham Werner Toyota said he had never seen anything like it before.
Mr Calderone said the new car dealership office had water up to his knees but within 20 minutes of the rain stopping it was all cleared out with the help of SES and CFA.
He said it was only lucky that the deluge did not damage any cars.
Meanwhile next-door at Manna Gum garden supplies staff were also battling a deluge after the office, toilets and showground were flooded.
Steve Meagher of Manna Gum said the water was more than 40cm deep in the toilet and throughout the office.
“It’s like we had a Manna Gum river here,” he said.
Mr Meagher said the flood had cost him $7000 in damaged stock, which did not include water damage to the office.
“I’ve never seen anything like this before and it happened so quickly there was nothing we could do to stop it,” he said.
Ms Afif said the SES also had to assist a number of people who had driven through water that were trapped.
She said it was an important reminder that drivers could end up stuck if they drove through a large body of water.
Ms Afif said she hadn’t seen flooding this severe for some time.
“I haven’t seen anything this bad for a while or this amount of flooding,” she said.
“It’s usually a mixture of flooding and tree damage but this was all flooding and it was all at once.”