Torrential rain causes flash flooding at Berridale

Within half an hour of torrential rain across much of Berridale township, roads were cut and amenities and houses damaged as flash flooding caused major disruption to the town last Friday afternoon. The localised storm cell struck the area without warning, dumping a deluge of rain on the town with such speed the creek running parallel to Jindabyne Road through the centre of Berridale was not able to cope with such a rapid inundation. NSW SES Snowy River unit chief inspector, Malika Bailey, said 65mls of rain fell in that 30-minute period at a time when traffic and activity was at its busiest as the fast moving storm unleashed when school had just finished for the day. “It came in fast and was unfortunately unpredictable,” chief inspector Bailey said on Monday. “This was a significant amount of water...there was water gushing through the town, prompting authorities to close roads for about three hours to keep the community safe,” she said. “At the corner of Jindabyne Road and Myack Street, where the flood level gauge is located and the worst of the flooding happened, the water went over the bridge at its peak at 1.2 metres for a short time. Police initially blocked the road, then Snowy Monaro council officially blocked the affected roads. Roberts Road was the only road open where flooding occurred as it has a bigger bridge over the top of the creek,” chief inspector Bailey said. The Snowy River SES crew was kept busy responding to a variety of storm jobs, additionally the flood rescue team was deployed and on standby. “Water had entered some houses and there were leaking roofs so the SES was called to help the community with this. “Everybody in Berridale did the right thing and kept safe,” chief inspector Bailey said. “The Berridale SES crew saw it happening and was able to respond very quickly, so it was good to have people on the ground, ready to react in case of a situation.” The water receded almost as quickly as it rose, leaving a trail of debris and damage to the public toilets and playground located next to the creek. Business were affected, as well as some livestock located on the flood zones. Goats were seen taking refuge on top of shed roofs as the flood waters engulfed their paddock. Snowy Monaro Regional Council acted quickly to clean up the main roads to allow traffic through again. The Berridale Lions Club’s traditional Christmas twilight fair went ahead on the Saturday afternoon having permission to re-locate from the Berridale Lions Park to the shopping centre car park.

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