Cranbourne North resident Priscilla Howe wants something done about the drainage problems in her area. 74622 Picture: Stewart Chambers
By Bridget Cook
EVERYTIME there is a downpour of rain, Cranbourne North resident Priscilla Howe has a sleepless night.
The anxiety is a side effect from the freak 4 February floods, where she lost everything she owned from her Kent Court home.
She said it was made worse by the fact that nothing had been done to fix the drainage problems in the area that cause rain water to cover the road and rise up her driveway during mild to medium downpours.
On Saturday 26 November when there was a big downpour of rain throughout the day and night, Ms Howe did not get to sleep until 4am when the rain stopped.
“The water comes up very quickly but goes down very slowly,” she said.
“The water backs up and just swirls. The drain near my house is always the first bit to flood and the last bit to leave.
“I just want it to be fixed up.”
Ms Howe said she had lived in the home for 20 years and this had gone on for all that time.
Despite numerous calls to the City of Casey and Melbourne Water, Ms Howe said nothing had been done yet.
However Melbourne Water said it had plans to fix the drainage problems in the area.
At Tuesday night’s council meeting, councillor Amanda Stapledon called on the council to start an urgent investigation into the long term and ongoing drainage and flooding that affect residents in Kent Court, Stirling Avenue, Rachel Drive and Orlit Close.
The council resolved to work with Melbourne Water to provide and implement a solution as a matter of urgency to ensure flooding no longer continues, especially under mild to medium downpours.
“The flooding is causing angst amongst the community,” Cr Stapledon said.
“The flooding has further exacerbated the concern in the area when the flood event occurred earlier this year so much so that residents are now experiencing problems sleeping when it rains.
“It is unfair to expect residents to continue to live under these conditions. “This matter needs to be addressed to get to the root of the problem and have it rectified urgently.”
Michele Halsall, from the Casey Community Flood Support Group, said she was at the Howe’s home 26 November and got a glimpse of what it was like to be a flood victim.
“Checking on the drains out the front, checking the weather bureau maps wondering whether it is safe to go to bed,” she said.
“How do they sleep?”
“How much suffering do they want these people to go through?”
Melbourne Water spokesman Nicolas McGay said they planned to fix the problem.
“We understand the residents’ frustration with local drainage issues and we’ve recently finalised design plans for a multi-million-dollar upgrade in this area,” he said.
“The upgrade will involve building a retarding basin downstream west of these streets, and new pipes to significantly increase capacity to drain water away from the area.
“We need to acquire private land and easement rights to undertake the project and we are currently working through the acquisition process.”
Mr McGay said the final design plans for the drainage upgrade have been completed and the timing and final cost of the project will be subject to factors such as the land acquisition process.
“While the upgrade works will significantly increase the capacity to drain water away in most storms, the upgraded drainage will still struggle to cope with exceptionally rare rain events like we saw on 4 February 2011 – as would drainage in most cities,” he said.
