By Brendan Rees
Narre Warren State Emergency Service volunteers were called out to seven incidents on Saturday 2 May, mainly of fallen trees and flash flooding, after widespread rain ripped through the southeast.
SES duty officer Bryce Wickham said one unrooted tree that had come crashing down onto a four-wheel-drive at a South Gippsland Highway property in Cranbourne was lucky to have caused only minor damage after leaving the owner a “bit worried” his car was a write-off.
Another fallen tree blocked the intersection of Worthing Road and Cross Road in Devon Meadows about 4am.
Crews also used water pumps and sandbags after flood waters threatened to enter people’s homes in Cranbourne, Cranbourne South, Endeavour Hills, Narre Warren, and Devon Meadows.
“Water has come through, the ground has soaked up as much as it can and it’s just backfilled up to properties through their yards,” Mr Wickham said.
“It was a day steady day … we then had a relief crew come on at night time to give the duty crew a rest in case we got busy on the Sunday.”
A forecaster from the Bureau of Meteorology Peter Blake said widespread rain fell across the southeast with 10mm recorded in Berwick and Narre Warren, and 12mm in Upper Pakenham – with wind gusts reaching up to 67km/h.
