SEVERAL roads in the Portland district were closed after heavy rain and wind caused havoc throughout the district overnight Tuesday.
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There were reports of trees down throughout the south-west, with call-outs to SES crews and council staff.
Official figures from the Bureau of Meteorology showed Portland received 61 millimetres of rain in the 24 hours until 9am yesterday.
Late yesterday, Kerrs Road, Boiler Swamp Road, Anderson Road, McIntyre Road, Nagorckas Road, Spinks Road, Thorns Road and Moreys Road remained closed.
Portland police assisted with road closures and Sergeant Gary Cooper urged road users to take care and drive to the conditions.
Local State Emergency Service controller John Davis recorded 115mm at his Portland west home, but he said that didn’t tell the whole story.
He emptied his rain gauge on his way to work at 4am yesterday.
“We had very heavy rain from 4.30am until 6am, so I would think we’ve had an extra 10mm since then,” he said.
There were reports of heavy rain at Heywood and trees down due to heavy winds.
Mr Davis said up to 10 SES volunteers had helped tackle a number of call-outs which involved mostly backyard flooding.
One property required sandbagging and the owners of another house were forced to shift their car after 1.5 metres of water flooded into the garage below their house.
The SES was also called to All Saints School, where the toilet block was flooded.
A flood watch has been issued for the Glenelg and Hopkins basins.
The Bureau of Meteorology is monitoring the situation.
It said with forecast rainfall, further rises in surrounding streams were expected and areas of minor flooding could develop over the coming days.
“This flood watch means that people living or working along rivers and streams must monitor the latest weather forecasts and warnings and be ready to move to higher ground should flooding develop,” the bureau said.
