By Tyler Wright
Kallista residents received an extra hand while experiencing 60 millimetres of rainfall on the night of Thursday 13 October, with 50 sandbags lined along Monbulk Road’s problem catchment areas.
After Karen Kestigian, member of the Kallista Floodwatch Group put the call out for help amid the forecast of heavy rain, it was Monbulk candidates, Labor’s Daniela De Martino and the Liberal’s Gareth Ward who unwittingly joined forces to find a solution.
With Ms De Martino sourcing hessian sacks from Upwey-Belgrave RSL, Mr Ward and apprentice Ethan Appleby from Confined Cut Earthmoving were able to gather sand and fill them at Mr Ward’s home, then delivered them to Kallista.
“Sandbags were put across [the water containment box] to divert it back into the spoon drain, and that was working perfectly,” Ms Kestigian said.
“We went out three times during the night to have a look and inspect what was happening, but it all seemed to be flowing back into where it should be… because we put the sandbags across the pathway where any water that was collecting on the path was being pushed back into the curb, so it all worked very, very well.”
Ms De Martino said after being contacted by Ms Kestigian on the morning of Thursday 12 August, she knew she had to act quickly to mitigate the risk of flooding along Monbulk Road.
“I had visited the Upwey-Belgrave RSL the week before and had seen the sandbags that Anthony Stewart, the President, had been filling for a display out the front, so I contacted him and asked if he had any spare sandbags to send to Kallista. Anthony didn’t hesitate to say ‘yes’ and I put him in touch with Karen,” Ms De Martino said.
“The importance of people helping out their community can’t be underestimated.
“When people come together to solve a problem, good things can be achieved, no matter what their politics may be.”
Mr Ward saw the callout on Facebook and thought his work owning a landscaping business could come in handy.
“I didn’t actually know that Daniela had sourced the sandbags for them, so I think it’s a good testament to our community that we both sort of reached out for help, I think that’s a great thing without realising that each other was involved in any way, as well.”
Mr Ward also said he thinks residents have become a lot more aware of disasters after the 2021 storm event.
“I’ve been a resident up here for about 17 years now, and everyone used to just worry about fire… was pretty much all that was spoken about, but now people are worried about fire, floods, fallen trees; it just feels like a different environment than it was say five years ago.”
Ms Kestigian said it was the consistent rainfall, rather than a torrential pour, that “saved the day,” but the Kallista Floodwatch Group will be doing a weather watch and will use sandbags to prevent further problems.
“I don’t think we have any other alternative,” Ms Kestigian said.
“I think two people are even looking at bringing in the hay bales as well and just having those, because you can only use the sandbags once…. You can retrieve the sand out of them, but the bags start to rot.”
In the meantime, the extra protection of sandbags has helped bring peace of mind to residents.
“Some people might say, well, you know, it wasn’t the torrential rain, and all that sort of thing, but what they’re not taking into consideration is the peace of mind.
“That is so significant for the people along here, because you’re going to go to bed at night and think, ‘what am I going to wake up to in the morning?
“So there’s a great deal of well being and peace of mind in all of this.”
