For the second time in a week, holidaymakers in regional Victoria are waking up in relief centres.
On Thursday, tourists at holiday parks in Lorne, Wye River and surrounds on the Great Ocean Road had to frantically evacuate their caravans and tents when a heavy downpour in the hinterland caused flash flooding.
Flooding in Wye River forces a car out to sea on Thursday.
An SES spokesman told this masthead there were more than 160 calls for assistance between midday on Thursday and 6.30am on Friday – including rescue calls for people affected by floods.
In the Barwon South West Region, which includes the Surf Coast, Colac and Otway areas, there were 36 calls for help, 12 for trees down, seven for flooding and five for assisting other agencies.
“There were four rescue calls for people who might have been trapped by the water and needed support,” the spokesman said. “We’ve also had three flood rescues which we supported Victoria Police with. Most of the requests have been cleared, there’s about four active in that region at the moment.”
The spokesman said while there were no exact details on how many cars and structures had been damaged, “dozens of vehicles and caravans” were affected by floodwaters, or were dragged out to sea.
Flooding at Wye River on Thursday.Credit: Rebecca Scott
“We’ll have a better understanding for those, as well as the building impacts once assessment crews are on the ground,” he said.
Dramatic footage from the area showed the devastating impact, as the rising tide either swept cars out to sea or crushed them on bridges.
