Flooding in Japan Street for the second time in a month has left Warrnambool residents and businesses counting the cost again.
They have called on the city council to prioritise and fast-track upgrades to the drainage network to help alleviate the problem that has left some with damage and losses to the tune of $1 million.
Figtree Caravan Park manager Jeremy Woolman said Friday's downpour sent water over the tennis courts and inundated some of the cabins again, but not as bad as on January 2.
"There's a bit of water behind the cabins but they're written-off anyway," he said.
"I guess the issue is there's nothing going on with finding the cause or fixing the problem."
Mr Woolman said they were awaiting on a million-dollar claim to cover loss of income as well as the damage to eight cabins and the boundary wall.
"We're still waiting on indemnity for that, but that could take 12 months for the claim to be finalised," Mr Woolman said.
"We were closed for six months of the year. We were just getting up on our feet and having a great season and on January 2 we lost eight cabins."
He said it was like a river with water contaminated with sewerage flowing into the caravan park.
"That was pretty tough to deal with and then having this happen again without any action being taken to rectify the issue, it's hard to deal with," he said.
Mr Woolman said he would be happy to help where he could to address the problem.
Parts of Victoria received a month's worth of rain in a day, but Warrnambool only officially recorded 9.6mm because its gauge is at the airport. The January 2 downpour was described as a once-in-50-year rain event which saw 30mm fall in 12 minutes.
Japan Street resident Arley Raymond said that after three stressful weeks she had only just settled their insurance claim on Friday from the last flood which caused $15,000 damage.
The downpour on January 2 flooded her basement, which had to be pumped out by the SES, where drums and music equipment were destroyed. "Things that were irreplaceable which is sad," she said.
Their shed was also flooded, and while they lost all their gardening equipment, mould and damp had become a problem.
Ms Raymond said that they had only been badly flooded twice in the seven years she has lived there, but they happened within 30 days of each other. Even her three-year-old daughter, Clara, noticed the impact. "She said: 'We're going to need a boat like Pa's because we can never get into our house'," Ms Woolman said.
Flooding along Japan Street has been identified by the council as a long-time issue with a $1 million plan in the works to rectify the problem, but it was not scheduled to happen for a number of years.
"It seems to just be happening more and more and it doesn't seem like they've ever come and tried to fix it, they've just put the flash flooding warning signs up for about two weeks after it happens and that's it."
Ms Raymond said she understood the council needs to double the amount it spends on drainage, but Japan Street was in need of a fast-track solution.
"We just need a bit more support. Whether they can help improve it for our driveways and make it a bit better for us or just fix the actual problem," she said.
Ms Raymond said nearly all the houses along the bottom of Japan Street got flooded.
She said her neighbour, who had been living in the street for 60 years, said she hadn't seen it as bad as this year but flooding had been a long-term issue in the street.
"I feel like they need to put some investment into it. Our weather is changing. It isn't going back to normal. Climate change is a real thing," she said.
She said she would support an increase in her rates if it meant fixing the problem.
SES crew leader Tristan Forster said they had received nine calls for help from across Warrnambool after Friday's downpour.
"A lot of people are on edge after last time," he said.
Read more:
Our COVID-19 news articles relating to public health and safety are free for anyone to access. However, we depend on subscription revenue to support our journalism. If you are able, please subscribe here. If you are already a subscriber, thank you for your support.
