By Tyler Wright
With fallen trees and landslips causing damage to properties and roads in the Dandenong Ranges after the flash flooding event on Tuesday 25 October and rain in the days after, some are looking to emergency accommodation for safety.
Selby ‘Ricky’ Yu Sun Lee was “shocked” to see a whole chunk of dirt “crumble” in front of his eyes while working in his study at around 6.00pm on Thursday 27 October, resulting in a landslip about two metres from his property.
“It felt like a sinkhole because it’s so huge…I ran back in, I called my daughter and my wife [and said] we need to evacuate now, we have to go… [the] sinkhole or landslide appeared in a matter of seconds,” Ricky said.
SES crews were called and cornered off the area, while also offering to call Yarra Ranges Council to organise temporary accommodation for the family.
While crews were watching the landslip, Ricky and his family rushed inside to pack clothes and essentials for the night.
“We have wife’s car, my car and my son’s car, and we drove off,” Ricky said.
“Prior to that, while we were packing, the council called us and said they will arrange temporary accommodation, so [in Thursday 27 October] we put up at a hotel in Dandenong; two rooms for four of us, and we’re still trying to figure out what’s next now,” he said.
Before moving into the Selby home four months ago, Ricky said he was prepared with bushfire insurance, but did not expect flooding.
“It is absolutely scary,” he said.
“I’ve mananged to find websites, Victorian emergency support, [and] they said they will provide guidance, they will hold your hand through this whole traumatic experience and help you out.”
Yarra Ranges Mayor Jim Child said the record of 40 to 50 millimetres of rain within half an hour on the evening of Tuesday 25 October at Lilydale was something the council has never experienced.
“We’ve reached complete saturation… the Olinda Creek, the Lillydale Lake, which is the retaining basin which protects Lilydale from flooding events, has been full for some time now… and it overflows into the Olinda Creek… and it ultimately goes into the Yarra, and the Yarra is in a similar situation as well,” Jim said.
“For that period of time the water couldn’t get away, and the drainage system is not designed for those types of large events.”
Jim added that Yarra Ranges Council put out more than 8000 emails to residents and businesses on Wednesday 26 October and encourages those who need help to reach out for a referral to bodies like the Insurance Council of Australia.
“We had to put some families in emergency accommodation because of flood inundation and there was some road closures… so the team had to act fairly quickly,” Jim said.
“Most of the people that work for us that are engaged in those departments actually live in the region as well, so yes they’ve got a commitment to their employment and doing their job, but they’ve also got to think about ‘gee, what’s going on at home.?’
“We’re out there doing that assessment stage now”
