By Luke Voogt
Torrential rains pelted Geelong and the Bellarine this weekend as local SES command called in additional crews to help meet demand.
“We’ve got five crews in from Melbourne assisting,” said Micah Spedding, operations manager for the Barwon South West region.
SES crews responded to 374 callouts in the region, including 138 on the Bellarine Penisula – 85 of which occurred in Ocean Grove – as of Monday afternoon.
“It’s the second time the Bellarine has been hit by a storm in a few weeks so some of them are still recovering,” Mr Spedding said.
Mr Spedding warned motorists not to enter flood waters after local crews rescued people from flood waters in six incidents.
“Don’t enter it, don’t play in it, don’t drive in it – the risk is too high,” he said.
Crews attended two call outs each at Ocean Grove, Marcus Hill and South Geelong – one of which involved an elderly couple.
“The problem with flood water you can’t see underneath it and you can’t see if the road’s been washed away,” Mr Spedding said.
“Once you’re in the water it’s hard to open the doors because of the pressure and you become trapped.”
A woman and young girl rolled their 4WD after hitting floodwater on Murradoc Road, Drysdale, just before 6am, Monday.
Paramedics took them to hospital in a stable condition for observation.
Winds faster than 80km/h battered the coast. Mr Speeding saw power “poles snapped in half” as he drove back from Camperdown.
“There were crews there just scratching their heads,” he said.
“That’s how strong the winds were.”
Geelong Racecourse recorded 53.6mm of rainfall in 24 hours up until 9am this morning.
SES crews also evacuated people from two houses in Ocean Grove.
