By Marcus Uhe and Shelby Brooks
Wild weather has again caused headaches across the Cardinia region with flood waters and falling trees causing problems for commuters.
A tree caused damage to powerlines on Healesville-Kooweerup Road near Morrison Road, Pakenham Upper around 11am Tuesday 16 November.
Emergency services attended, though the road was closed for several hours.
Traffic was diverted along Bourkes Creek Road.
The previous day, Beaconsfield CFA were called to assist a driver who became stuck in flood waters from Cardinia Creek.
A family of four was trapped between the two rail bridges when attempting to drive through the water between Woods Street and Kenilworth Avenue Monday evening, 15 November.
Three CFA units from Beaconsfield Fire Brigade attended the scene with support from FRV crews and SES personnel.
Crews responded just before 5.10pm and arrived to find a vehicle stuck in approximately 800mm of flood water along Beaconsfield Avenue.
Beaconsfield Fire Brigade 1st Lieutenant and Incident Controller Mitchell Watkins said the car was stuck in “waist deep water”.
“The car wasn’t running, and they couldn’t get the windows down,” he said.
“After we carefully assessed the scene for hazards, we sent a firefighter into the water to safely open the vehicle doors and escort them out of the flood water.
“Everyone on scene did a great job of working together quickly bringing the occupants to safety.”
Firefighters provided the family with blankets for warmth and handed them to paramedics to be assessed.
Crews declared the scene safe at around 5.23pm.
1st Lt Watkins said with recent rainfall, this incident was a timely reminder for people to never drive through flood water.
“It only takes 15cm of floodwater for a small car to float or lose traction,” he said.
Pakenham SES media officer and volunteer Shayne Honey attended the incident but was not required to lend assistance as the CFA had rescued the occupant of the vehicle prior to his arrival.
He was, however, called to another similar incident in Officer when returning from Beaconsfield.
“We were on the way back from Beaconsfield and we got called to another rescue on Lecky Road in Officer where a four wheel drive had driven into a ditch,” Shayne said.
“The driver said there was another car coming the other way, and he moved off to one side of the road so that the other car could go past, but misjudged where the road was due to the amount of water.
“Thankfully the person was unharmed and no medical assistance was needed.”
He said that both incidents served as a timely reminder about the hazards of driving in those conditions.
“It shows the dangers of driving in flood water,” Shayne said.
“You don’t know the road conditions under the water.”
