A DELUGE of rain fell on Hamilton CBD in barely over an hour on Friday evening, testing the resolve of emergency crews, blocking the path of vehicles with flooded roads and stretching the capacity of the town’s drains.

Several residents were evacuated in Hamilton after homes and businesses were inundated with water.

In Penshurst, a man had to be rescued after becoming trapped in a vehicle on Friday night as flash flooding in the area caused havoc.

While official readings from the Bureau of Meteorology’s (BOM) weather station at Hamilton airport on Friday night recorded 13.4 millimetres of rain between 6.34-7.41pm, a total of an hour and seven minutes, elsewhere within the township, local rain gauges recorded much higher levels – some over 60mm.

The VICSES (Victorian State Emergency Service) Hamilton Unit was the lead agency coordinating crews assisted by other local VICSES Units and other agencies including local Country Fire Authority (CFA), Police, Shire, and VicRoads.

More than 70 requests for assistance (RFAs) were made, with the majority being water entering premises and restricted access to roads.

The Hamilton SES reported that some residents required emergency accommodation due to flooding of their homes.

They were also called to the rescue near Penshurst after the person, who had become trapped in their vehicle, aquaplaned into the flash flood waters.

According to VICSES Hamilton Unit duty officer, John McKenzie, the downpour was extremely heavy and immediate.

“At around 7pm heavy rainfall began to impact Hamilton causing flash flooding across many parts of town,” he said.

“Our members stood up an Incident Control point and began to triage RFAs and issuing a watch and act alert via the VicEmergency App.

“With the large volume of RFAs in such a short period of time, it’s critical to manage requests and assign priorities based on risk to community and critical infrastructure, plus ensuring crews get to where the assistance is needed.

 “Our land-based swift water rescue team was paged to a rescue near Penshurst at approximately 10.50pm for a person trapped in their vehicle by flash flood waters.

“Assisted by Dunkeld SES Unit, our highly trained members were able get a rescue line and personal flotation device (PFD) to the single occupant and have him extricated from the vehicle under our rescuer’s directions.”

Mr McKenzie said it was great to have support from the other partner agencies.

“Their assistance was invaluable,” he said.

With continued rain and wet conditions, Mr McKenzie said it was timely to remind people to be vigilant, drive to the conditions and never attempt to drive through flood water.

“Never hesitate to contact 132 500 if confronted by a flood or storm emergency and always dial Triple Zero (000) if confronted with a life threating emergency,” he said.

Eight local CFA brigades provided support with a total of around 50 volunteers deployed, including a ground intelligence team from Warrnambool.

Hamilton Fire Brigade captain, Malcolm Anderson said the brigades were kept very busy all Friday night and most of Saturday.

“CFA members responded to the flash flood by preparing sandbags, undertaking assessments as calls for help came in, and evacuating residents from houses that were impacted, all in conjunction with SES,” he said.

“As it continued to worsen, more brigades were called upon to assist.

“It was a pretty dynamic and very fast-moving incident, with our brigades involved in about 55 different responses.

“As the jobs came in, they were allocated to either CFA or SES crew to respond.

“I think all CFA members were stood down by about 2.30pm on Saturday.

“Obviously it was a long day and night for the volunteers. 

“Since Saturday, the CFA has not been called upon to respond to any further incidents, as the SES were managing all further incidents in the district.”

Captain Anderson also said that the CFA crews were grateful for the wonderful support offered by members of the community.

“The support from the community was great - by way of offering coffee, food and drinks to all services involved,” he said.

“There were (CFA) members that had their own homes and properties impacted, but they put the community’s needs first - that was tough for them - but that is what we do.”

Several houses in Mason Court were flooded, requiring residents to be evacuated and one resident who was flooded said they believed they got about 60mm in 40 mins on Friday night.

Nearby King Street was also flooded with Graham and Miriam Tonissen experiencing four inches of water throughout their entire home, however they said they were lucky compared to others in the area.

“It was a sea of water,” Ms Tonissen said.

“The creek comes from North Boundary Road and it just blocked up and went through all the houses … there was a mat of chips on top of the grate (in the park) so the water ran over the top because it couldn’t get underneath.

“It just came in the doors and everywhere.

“It wasn’t that much longer before the water started running out of the house.”

The couple had to rip up their carpet and bring in large fans to air out their home, with Mr Tonissen saying he believed the cause of the flooding was the poor management of nearby drainage grates in the King Street park and creek, which is the responsibility of the Southern Grampians Shire Council (SGSC).

“There’s a grate on the King Street crossing and it all blocks up … we feel it doesn’t need a grate there it should let the rubbish go through but instead the rubbish collects on the grate and blocks the creek,” he said.

“We feel it’s very negligent by the council … if you want to put the water under the park, make provisions so it can get away.

“It’s no good putting a grate and flooding all the houses around the place just because of it.

“We’re pretty disappointed.”

Mr and Ms Tonissen said this was not a new problem, with people in the street having had conversations with Council regarding cleaning the grates earlier on Friday where they were allegedly told the grates were clear and the residents would not have any trouble.

SGSC chief executive, Tony Doyle said the flash flooding on Friday was the “result of a significant and unexpected amount of rain falling in a very short space of time” which placed drainage grates under significant strain, including the one on King Street.

“Storm water drains and culverts right across the Southern Grampians, and indeed across Victoria, were inundated and many struggled to cope with the deluge,” he said.

“The King Street culvert was just one of the many sites assessed by our team on Friday.

“This culvert is covered by a grate which is designed to direct the debris up from the water flow and stop it from blocking the drain, allowing the water to still flow through the bottom. 

“It was cleared by our team prior to the expected storm and operated effectively to stop the debris from blocking the drain. 

“Unfortunately, being in a flood prone area and with the significant amount of water experienced, homes in and around King Street and Coleraine Road were inundated.  

“Crews cleared the debris from the culvert grate again on Sunday in anticipation of this week’s expected rain. 

“Council will continue to monitor and maintain its culverts, however this recent flash flood event resulted in unprecedented volumes within Hamilton.”

Businesses were also impacted by the intense weather with the ceiling at Hamilton’s Grand Central Hotel giving way and causing a bit of a flurry amongst patrons.

Co-owner, David Lewis said that although the front room flooded on Friday night, the damage really wasn’t that bad.

“A couple of ceiling tiles came down and fortunately no was hit,” he said.

“Because it had already been dripping, no one was standing there.

“It flooded about ten carpet tiles - they’re not worth replacing - we’ve pulled them up and we’re just going to dry them out.

“It’s not even worth claiming insurance, the excess is so much.”

As the rain continued to consistently fall on Monday, SGSC released a statement via Facebook with advice that access to Lake Hamilton was closed until further notice due to ongoing high-water levels.

The amenities block at the boat ramp was also inundated with rainwater and closed until further notice, with SGSC reminding everyone to obey all warning signs that are in place for safety purposes.