Trees down, land slips and flooding as rainfall soaks Alpine Shire

Winter's heaviest rainfall over three consecutive days throughout the Alpine Shire caused flooding and felled trees throughout the region last week. A number of trees toppled in Mount Beauty, according to local police, however no major roads were cut off and the SES were able to clear them expeditiously. According to TAFCO's weather stations around the region, Bright recorded a total rainfall of 109.8 millimetres since Tuesday 30 June, with Friday 3 July registering the highest daily recording of 39.4 millimetres. The weather event last week gave the Bright SES Unit one of its busiest weeks in some time, with a range of calls for assistance including trees on roads, landslips and a road crash rescue. Unit controller, Graham Gales, said the busiest day was Friday, with 10 calls for assistance, starting at midnight on Thursday through to around 9pm on Friday night. “The most common call across both the Ovens and Kiewa valleys was for trees down blocking roads," he said. "The largest tree to come down fell near One Mile Creek at Porepunkah, blocking the Great Alpine Road in both directions. “This tree was going to take us some time to clear, but the process was sped up by the generosity of Tom Nicholson of Tom’s Rural Tree Services. "Tom brought along his crane and his work crew, which enabled us to have the road open in half the time it would have taken us by ourselves." Bright also had water over the Great Alpine Road by Frasers Lane on Friday afternoon and evening, with drivers still able to drive through with minimal disturbance. TAFCO's weather station data revealed Myrtleford saw a combined total of 82.2 millimetres of rainfall over the past week, with Friday 3 July recording the most rainfall at 23.4 millimetres. An overflowing Happy Valley Creek in Myrtleford saw Standish Street go underwater and close the road for vehicles, with only the footbridge able to provide safe passage for pedestrians and cyclists in the meantime, due to its elevation from floodwaters. A car struck a tree which had fallen on the road near Stoney Creek Fish Farm in Harrietville early on Friday morning, as the poor visibility and wet road surface meant the driver could not break in time. The driver suffered no injuries in the collision and the tree was cleared away by SES members. "I would advise drivers to take extra care on the roads during these weather events, particularly at night and in the rain," Mr Gales said "Even with driving lights, trees across roads can be very difficult to see at a distance. “Keeping the roads open was a team effort and I would like to thank Alpine Shire staff, VicRoads contractors and Victoria Police for their assistance.” According the the Bureau of Meteorology website, Mount Hotham saw 149.8 millimetres of rainfall since Tuesday 30 June, (which includes all forms of precipitation to reach the ground, such as rain, drizzle, hail and snow) and a maximum recorded daily rainfall on Wednesday 1 July with 48.8 millimetres. Falls Creek recorded a total 163.2 millimetres since Tuesday 30 June, with a combined 129.8 millimetres of rainfall recorded across Wednesday 1 and Thursday 2 July. Buffalo Creek recorded a combined 103.8 millimetres, with Friday recording the maximum for the week of 32.8 millimetres. Coral Bank registered a total of 113.8 millimetres, through the TAFCO weather stations, with Wednesday 1 July recording the highest daily rainfall at 42.6 millimetres. As of Monday, 6 July, the Bureau of Meteorology still had flood warnings in place for the Kiewa and Ovens rivers. A minor flood alert was issued along the Kiewa River, as the highest water recorded was marked at 3.41 metres at the Kiewa River Channel, with waters likely to remain above the minor flood level (3.30 metres for the region) into Tuesday 7 July. A moderate flood warning was put in place for the Ovens River and as of Monday, water levels were the highest at Eurobin at 3.42 metres. Minor flooding has eased along the Buffalo River downstream of Lake Buffalo, with the water level falling at 2.71 metres. For more information about TAFCO weather stations, visit: https://www.tafco.com.au/weather/ For the latest from the Bureau of Meteorology, visit: https://www.bom.gov.au/ TAFCO weather stations' top recorded rainfalls from Monday 29 June to Monday 6 July: Bright= 110.1mm Porepunkah= 131.8mm Buffalo Creek= 103.8mm Dederang= 128.2mm Eurobin= 105.6mm Whorouly= 65mm

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