EstuaryWatch Data Portal
Estuary event details
| Estuary | Wye River Estuary |
|---|---|
| Region | Corangamite CMA |
| Event type | Unusual/Extraordinary occurrence! |
| Date and time | 22 January 2016 16:47pm |
| Description |
WYE RIVER RUNS DRY AFTER FIREFIGHTERS HAD TO PULL WATER TO EXTINGUISH BLAZE WEEKS after a bushfire devastated Wye River it has faced another crisis- the town almost ran out of water.Firefighters had to pull water from the river to save the town from the Christmas Day bushfire, which destroyed 116 homes in extreme heat.But then the small community came close to running dry."(The river's) dried up to a point where it can"t supply enough water to keep the town going," local plumber and volunteer firefighter Dave Kohout said.On January 9 local man "Wellsy" and others talked to Emergency Management Commissioner Craig Lapsley about the approaching water crisis.They got permission to install four 22,000-litre water tanks at Howie's Beach in Separation Creek, allowing water to be transported in to keep the town going."The domestic houses work on roof water, (but) all the commercial properties rely on the river to supply their water," Mr Kohout said.The local pub, caravan parks, shop and surf club are sharing water with one another, as the town bids to recover from the bushfire at the height of tourist season."The pub and the shop are saying that their numbers are back up near normal. The caravan parks are pretty full,' Mr Kohout said. "(But) we are finding that as far as the town goes, there's a lot less people than normally." Everyone from the prime minister down praised the Wye River community's planning for the fire, but Mr Kohout said no one planned for how the town would recover."We trained and everything and we knew what to do with the event, but we never really thought about how it would work afterwards," he saidThe Great Ocean Road remains open, however due to potential severe weather conditions a 40km/h speed restriction is in place from Jamieson Track to The Boulevard in Wye River.The CFA has warned that runoff caused by heavy rain could lead to flash flooding, with trees burnt or damaged by heat and fire becoming unstable. Geelong Advertiser |
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