04 May 2010
Mr MORRIS (Mornington) — On the night of 20 April the Mornington district was lashed by an extreme rainstorm. Forty‑six millimetres was recorded on the Mornington rain gauge, almost three‑quarters of the April average.
In 3 short hours MountEliza received 65 millimetres on the coast and over 100 millimetres close to the summit. Roads were flooded, torrents poured from overflowing drainage pits and normal traffic was brought to a standstill.
On a personal note some of the gutters failed at my Mornington electorate office, but fortunately we were there to catch the water. At my home the garage was flooded but thankfully not the house. We were lucky, but many were not. Houses throughout Mount Eliza, Mornington and Mount Martha were totally flooded.
In Mount Eliza almost every gravel drive was washed way and finished up on the street, down the hill or in the house. Homes became floodways, and creeks burst their banks. One resident of 50 years, whose garage rarely floods, and never badly, found her car immersed in water up to the steering wheel.
It was of course a write‑off.
The bottom line of all this is that the existing drainage proved unable to cope with even a fraction of the rain that fell — and not for the first time. The cost of upgrading the entire drainage system for the towns is of course way beyond the capacity of the Shire of Mornington Peninsula. These circumstances have probably been repeated across the state at a potentially huge cost for every municipality.
I urge the Minister for Local Government to work with councils and drainage authorities to urgently determine and fund necessary protection measures for every property.
Legislative Assembly 4 May 2010
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