By Callum Ludwig
The Upper Yarra has not escaped the wrath of the weather on Thursday 13 October, with a number of road closures, damage and floods.
The bridge over Parslows Road in Yellingbo is completely flooded, resulting in the road being closed to drivers.
Community Safety Coordinator at Yellingbo CFA Jo Hardy said it is also flooded on nearby Macclesfield Road.
“There’s a lot of rapids coming from the creek, and they are pretty strong but there’s still a lot of people trying to drive through the floodwaters and it’s really annoying when we are retying to keep the public safe,” she said.
“We have signs out stating that there is water over the road and that it is closed. We ask people to just abide by the signs and not try to drive through because it is very dangerous.”
Signs were put up over the night of Thursday 13 October. Water partially covered Parslows Road at around 7am the morning of Friday 14 October, and the road was engulfed by 12pm.
Ms Hardy said drivers who would’ve planned to use Parslows Road should use Healesville-Koo Wee Rup Road and head to the Warburton Highway to go around.
“About 12 years ago, we had really bad flooding in Yellingbo like this, and we had a car actually bobbing down the river after getting caught in the floodwaters,” she said.
“I watched a person this morning trying to get through, and about halfway through his car started skidding and he just made it to the other side of the river in his small four-wheel drive. His face just showed ‘Oh thank God I made it through.’”
There haven’t been any other incidents in Yellingbo but wet soils and strong winds could result in trees going down.
Drummond, Station and Seymour streets in Seville and Glenview Road, Mathers and Deans Road, Corduroy and Settlement roads in Launching Place, Donna Buang Road from Ben Cairn Road to Donna Buang Summit Road in Warburton and Ewen Road in Yellingbo were also closed due to flooding.
The consistent concerns over potholes on the Warburton Highway have also reemerged as they were affected by the rain, with a large one forming between Wandin and Seville.
Report potholes or road damage online at yarraranges.vic.gov.au/pothole or call 1300 368 333.
For potholes on roads managed by Vicroads, please report them to Vicroads on their website.
