[ 46 ] WEEKLY YOUR COMMUNITY VOICE February 8, 2011
The new Saturday Age.Make the most of Saturday.
NEWS
Popular wetlands: A flooded Cranbourne Road, Narre Warren South.
Picture: Craig Sillitoe/The Age Desperate defence: Steve Dorbolo
shores up his Western Way home. Picture: Lucy Di Paolo
No worries: Mike Rodgers, Daniel Miller, Nick Lacaze and Dez
Dardenne in Western Way,Narre Warren. Picture: Lucy Di Paolo
Last line of defenceBY SAM BOLITHO
THERE was little Adam Macneecould do to stop water inundating
hisValley Fair Drive home in Narre War-ren on Saturday morning.
It came in a matter of minutes, hesaid.
Mr Macnee, a self-employedplasterer, did not have time to
salvagepower tools from his shed before theywere submerged, along
with a com-mercial refrigerator, a V8 car engineand two childrens
motorbikes. Heestimated the floods had cost himmore than
$30,000.
On Saturday afternoon, upon hear-ing of a threatened second
flood surge,he was turning down offers fromneighbours to sandbag
his house.Whats the point? Itll just trap the
water inside. Instead, he was doingwhat many other residents
were doing.
I called my mate and bought acouple of boxes of beer.
In Western Way, around the cornerfrom Mr Macnees house,
residentswere banding together to help those atrisk.
More than 20 residents were chip-ping in, filling sandbags and
sealing uphomes. SES and Casey Council work-ers were supplying sand
and meshbags.
Resident Brett Marshall said he hadnever seen anything like it
in the 30years he had lived in the street.
Survivors of the Black Saturdaybushfires in Narre Warren South
werelucky to escape a second disaster whenfloods hit on Friday
night.
About 7pm water flowed down
Langbourne Drive, leaving residentslittle time to protect their
homes.
Leanne and Nando Russell, whowere not at home at the time, said
theywere indebted to quick-thinkingneighbours. Residents, many of
whomdid not know the Russells, workedtogether to make sandbags out
ofshopping bags to protect the house.
If they [neighbours] werent here,the water would have just
flowedinside the house,Mr Russell said.
We have the best neighbours in theworld,Mrs Russell added.
Neighbour Simon Sanderson saidthe water was just centimetres
fromentering the Russells house.
You hear things on the news aboutcommunity spirit all the time
andwe were right in the middle of it lastnight.
