It’s Wet and Risky on the Roads and Tracks

A number of roads and tracks around Daylesford and Hepburn Springs are now subject to flooding.

Local reports of flooding include the Daylesford Trentham Road past Lietche’s Creek Road, Wombat Street next to Cliffy’s, the Ballarat-Daylesford Road, Tipperary Springs, the Blow Hole crossing, Green Gully Road, Wooduck Drive, Woolnough’s Crossing, Castlemaine Daylesford Road at Campbell’s Creek and the  the old Ballarat Road.

Road closures advised by VicRoads on Thursday evening.

VicRoads have reported a number of regional road closures that may affect local residents. Many arterial roads in and out of Daylesford were closed on Thursday evening making it difficult for Melbourne commuters to return home. There are a number of emergency warnings associated with severe weather for the region, including for the Loddon River.

Vic SES Chief Operations Officer Tim Wiebusch said Victoria had a “significant flood emergency” that would continue into next week. The SES had more than 1600 requests for help. A number of areas were without power.

There are also reports of local facilities such as the ARC activity centre on Smith Street flooding. There are reports that Daylesford College cancelled classes as a result of the weather.

Rainfall in Daylesford was 55 mm in the 24 hours to 9:00 am Thursday and a further 63 mm to 9:00 am Friday.  The weather forecast is for more rain in the coming week.

Castlemaine is experiencing significant flooding forcing evacuations. Powercor shut down the Castlemaine substation because of of flooding leaving 9,800 customers without power.

Emergency services have strongly advised drivers not to drive through flooded waters and not to ignore road closures.

It is likely that the increased rainfall and flooding will further damage road surfaces and drivers are advised to adjust their driving to take account of the changed conditions. Residents are advised to monitor Bureau of Meteorology weather forecasts, VicRoads advice and emergency warnings. The ABC Emergency website provides the latest flood and weather warnings by postcode.