Statement from the Mayor
Published on 25 November 2022
Many of our residents were hard hit by the rain event on Monday 14 November and subsequent storms, which resulted in significant flood damage and distress.
Across the Shire, there have been 270 calls to the SES from people affected by flood and high winds, many of whose homes were inundated.
There were landslips in several locations, in some instances residents were evacuated and roads closed. The safety of our community is always our first priority and we are working hard to assist those in need, assess damage and begin repairs and recovery.
So far we have contacted more than 190 of these affected residents with 28 referrals to the Department of Families, Fairness and Housing for Personal Hardship Payments and several others referred to other agencies.
Impact inspections of private properties have also started, with specialists assessing structural damage and any potential health issues such as mould, contaminated water and septic or grey water issues.
We have arranged temporary accommodation for some of our most vulnerable and disadvantaged residents as well as engaging our Maternal and Child Health Team, Youth Services and Disability Services to provide additional wrap around support for our priority population groups that have been impacted.
We immediately set up a dedicated phone line for residents impacted by the rain event, plus a flood recovery page on our website. Residents were also able to request drainage maintenance quickly and easily through our drainage maintenance webpage.
Meanwhile, we are dealing with significant damage and disruption to Shire buildings, services and places. This includes coastal erosion leading to the closure of beach car parks and paths, damage to kindergartens, community centres and the Balcombe Estuary Boardwalk.
So far, Council has:
- repaired 1985 square metres of unsealed roads
- cleaned and cleared 3251m of drainage pipes
- cleaned 132 storm water pits
- replaced or reset 50 storm water pit lids
- made safe 5 sinkholes.
We have an excellent cleaning and maintenance program for the part of the drainage system that is managed by the Shire. We regularly sweep streets to reduce blockages and inspect and clean pits and pipes where needed.
In October (in response to then forecast high rainfall) we proactively visited properties we know are prone to flooding and checked all the pits and pipes were in good shape.
We’ll continue to keep our community informed on impacted Shire services and infrastructure via social media and our webpage mornpen.vic.gov.au/floods.
The easiest way to report a problem with anything managed by the Shire is via our website at mornpen.vic.gov.au/report-it. This submits a request directly through to the relevant team.
To report a drainage maintenance request, please use the online form at mornpen.vic.gov.au/drainage. This submits a request directly through to the relevant contractor.
Finally, I’d like to thank the SES and all first responders, Shire staff and other volunteers who continue to support those in our community affected by recent weather events.
If you need assistance during a severe weather event, please call the SES on 132 500. For anything life threatening please call Triple Zero (000).