Roads cop a deluge

By Danielle Galvin
RESIDENTS in Kooweerup and Lang Lang were told they would need a four wheel drive or a boat to get back to their homes.
Around town on Friday, residents were in their gumboots assessing the worst hit areas in their town.
On Moody Street and Rossiter Road, motorists managed to brave flood waters to get into and out of town but Boundary Drain Road and Williams Road were completely inundated with water.
Emergency crews were out in force but residents were also doing their bit to keep the water out of their homes.
Kooweerup Secondary College closed down mid-morning with concerns that students would have no way of getting home.
Assistant principal Peter Bottomley said staff had spent the morning negotiating for kids to get home from the Rossiter Road school.
When the Gazette visited the school in the morning, only a handful of students were waiting to be picked up.
“There were students on a year-seven camp stuck in Phillip Island who were being diverted through Warragul to get home,” he said.
“The bus company would drop the students off at the Cardinia Cultural Centre rather than coming here.”
Mr Bottomley said that the school had been in constant contact with the SES.
He said it was incorrect that the school was evacuated and that there were lockers floating down the street, which was one of the rumours on Facebook as parents called to find out about their children.
“The decision to close the school was made about 45 minutes ago (11.15am),” he said.
On Saturday morning, the police advised that the South Gippsland Highway was open in both directions. Reduced speed limits applied on the highway between Kooweerup and Lang Lang.
Council spokesperson Paul Dunlop said the Kooweerup area received 60mm of rain in 24 hours which fell on an already-wet catchment.