Emergency services volunteers were forced to abandon their vehicle this morning after it became trapped in a flooded ditch in Koo Wee Rup. The State Emergency Service utility was door-knocking residents in the inundated town southeast of Melbourne when it ran into the deep ditch, leaving the nose of the vehicle submerged. There are reports the deluge has risen to about half a metre along Boundary Drain Road, one of the worst hit streets in the flood-ravaged town. SES spokeswoman Dimity York said volunteers were specially trained and all vehicles were fitted with funnels, nevertheless it demonstrated the perils of driving through floodwaters. “It’s further reinforcement that if specially trained personnel can get into that situation then no one should ever drive through floodwater,” Ms York said. She said emergency services would have to wait until floodwaters receded until they could retrieve the stricken vehicle. Meanwhile, Melbourne Water engineers were struggling to fix a broken levee gate which allowed flooding to billow over the town’s boundary drain, intensifying flooding in the area. SES spokesman Toby Borella said a combination of high tides and floodwaters surged through the open gate, causing the channel to overflow and spill onto William Street. Mr Borella said the pressure floodwaters were putting on the gate meant engineers were finding it difficult to close.
He said they didn’t know why the gate had failed. At comes as at least 30 homes have been evacuated in Koo Wee Rup as parts of Gippsland succumbed to flooding overnight. State Emergency Service spokesman Lachlan Quick said emergency services began door-knocking early this morning after torrential rain threatened properties. He said further evacuations could be expected throughout the day, with the downpour not expected to ease until later tonight. "With any luck we can see it (the water level) drop today, (but) we never expect it to ease that quickly. We have to be prepared for the worst," Mr Quick said. Despite concerns, he said only a handful of properties had so far been inundated. Police warned a number of arterial roads in the area bounded by Longwarry Rd, Bridge Rd, the Westernport Highway, South Gippsland Highway and Koo Wee Rup Rd were affected by flooding. So far, the South Gippsland Highway north of Lang Lang, near the intersection of McDonalds Track has been closed. The Bass Highway at Wonthaggi is closed. Inverloch-Kongwak Road at Kongwak as well as Outtrim-Inverloch Rd at Outtrim are closed.
- RSOE Edis
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