Kilmore State Emergency Services, SES, workers have breathed a ‘sigh of relief’ as a typical early-October storm event last week caused minimal damage in the Mitchell Shire.
Wind and rain caused the Kilmore unit to receive 12 requests for assistance, most regarding fallen trees and minor house damage – the number down significantly from last year’s figure of more than 250 requests for the same period.
Kilmore SES unit controller John Koutras said the unit was ‘pretty happy’ that weather damage remained minimal but warned that the situation could have been worse.
“We were prepared and ready because the winds were quite high, the water and the rain that we had was somewhere between 80 to 100 millimetres,” he said.
“I think one of the reasons was that the surface had dried up and had actually taken in a fair bit of water, especially in the Kilmore, Broadford and Wallan area, we didn’t have much runoff because the water was soaked up.
“Whatever flows happened ended up in the creeks, so it wasn’t huge. If we were to get another event now, it might be different.”
While the weather remained tame for the southern Mitchell Shire, warnings were still issued for Seymour and the surroundings areas of the Goulburn River.
On October 3, residents were advised to stay alert and be prepared to shift livestock early as nearly 50mm of rain was expected on the day.
Almost 70mm fell over the region on Tuesday and Wednesday before easing on Thursday, however some areas were still impacted by excess water.
“It didn’t take us by surprise but what it just means now ahead of fire season is there’s that extra soaking,” Mr Koutras said.
“The sun comes out now and there’s extra growth so that just adds on to the firefighters’ season, but it’s quite a normal thing for this time of the year.”
A minor flood warning for the Goulburn River, downstream of Lake Eildon and Seymour remained in place yesterday.
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