By Luke Voogt
A CFA captain has warned motorists against driving through floodwaters following the dramatic rescue of a man and his teenage sister at Inverleigh on Wednesday.
The pair was lucky that airborne paramedics, CFA and SES units combined to rescue them unharmed, said Inverleigh brigade captain Noel Wilson.
“All the agencies worked together seamlessly. It was a really good outcome.”
The man was travelling south on the Teesdale-Inverleigh Road when floodwaters trapped his vehicle as he attempted to cross the overflowing Leigh River, police said.
The fire brigade received a call for help at 5.59pm, dispatching both tankers to the incident.
Crews found the ute immersed in 1.2m of murky water rushing in from the north.
“It was up to the level of their window and it was running really fast,” Mr Wilson said.
“We drove our truck in as far as we could.
“If water had kept (rising) it could have easily dislodged them from where they were and they could have floated away.”
Inverleigh firefighters climbed on top of the tanker and threw ropes to the man and teenager, who tied them to the ute.
“At least we had a rope on them if it started to shift and float downstream,” Mr Wilson said.
“We thought the safest thing to do was to wait for the Air Wing.”
About 20 minutes later Geelong CFA’s rescue unit arrived and fed life jackets down the ropes to the pair.
Soon after a combined police and ambulance helicopter arrived, with paramedics then winching the pair to safety.
Paramedics treated the local 25-year-old man and the 13-year-old girl for mild hypothermia after the helicopter landed nearby.
Mr Wilson said the Inverleigh-Teesdale Road had been closed about one kilometre north of the rescue, just south its intersection with Common Road.
His tanker passed a VicRoads ‘road closed’ sign on its way to the rescue, he said.
“People just don’t realise how dangerous it is to try to get through flood waters.”
“And it’s dangerous for us to get them out. A few years back we had to get some people trying to get a chicken truck through but the water wasn’t as high.”
Local volunteer firefighter Garry Vidler, who was involved in the rescue, praised the efforts of the police helicopter pilot.
“It was incredible to watch. He just hovered there and didn’t move an inch as they hoisted them up.”
