Through rain, sleet and flood… they get round to Tarwin Lower

THE rain started on Sunday night, and it barely stopped until Wednesday morning when the sun popped out and you could see the extent of the ‘shock’ floods across Bass Coast and South Gippsland.

The Tarwin River, in particular, from the hills above Leongatha, through Meeniyan and out through Tarwin Lower, appears to be the hardest hit, but also the Powlett River, smaller local streams and across paddocks and roads.

However, while there was no threat to the townships of Tarwin Lower, and the increasingly more permanently populated Venus Bay, both towns were still cut off as the tide started to rise to its peak at about 2.50pm on Wednesday (today).

The level of the floodwater is expected to ease from now on but how long it will be before the Inverloch-Venus Bay Road is passable again is anyone’s guess.

Long-time locals say it’s the biggest flood for a decade but who knew.

There was no warning from the bureau or other local authorities, and there have been reports of stock lost as a result.

But, through the determination and ingenuity of local traders and supplies… the mail, the fuel, the groceries and the produce has been getting through to the district supply centre at Tarwin Lower, initially via Meeiyan, Fish Creek and Walkerville, but in the following days, with some people using the partly sealed Buffalo-Waratah Road.

Maybe a good case now for the rest of it to be sealed, all the way to Walkerville Road.

The team at IGA at Tarwin Lower, in particular, have earned the community’s high praise for going to great lengths to get the fresh bread in, the fresh veggies, the papers and all the rest.

“I’ve done about five loads in now from Inverloch but it’s certainly been a pain having to go all the way around,” said Luke Kelly at Tarwin Lower IGA, still managing a smile as stalwart, Tracey de Merlo, comes out to help him unload veggies, packaged food and even fresh flowers.

Tash and Tiarni at The Bird and the Wolf Café were surprisingly busy on Wednesday but they continued to serve up a storm of fresh-made breakfasts and lunches, with plenty of coffee on the go for locals and the workers going through.

Even Matt Russell showed up with a tanker load of fuel from John Duff, also having to take the long way around to get to Tarwin Lower.

The only thing, it seems, that didn’t get through, were the school buses to Leongatha, but that didn’t worry young Clara and Alessandra Western who usually would have been in at school at St Lawrences but enjoyed a sit-down lunch at the café with Beth Winterhalter.

Lots of residents of Venus Bay, struggled to find their way home however, driving through for a look at the floodwater on the Inverloch side of the Tarwin Lower Bridge, trying the Buffalo-Tarwin Lower Road with no success and ultimately going all the way around via Fish Creek or up the ‘Ten Mile’ as they call the Buffalo-Waratah Road.

So, where there’s a will there’s a way, the mail, the fuel and the food got through… but there’s still some questions being asked about the lack of warning for what has been the most significant rain and flood event impacting Tarwin Lower and Venus Bay in the last 10 years.