6 days ago
Kingston South East and Robe hit by flooding and storm damage in wave of bad weather
A storm has caused flooding and damaged infrastructure for the third time in two months in Kingston South East and Robe, in South Australia's south-east.
The towns were hit with a high tide, winds of up to 100 kilometres per hour, swell of up to 6 metres high and heavy rain yesterday.
The towns suffered through similar weather at the end of May and the end of June.
Yesterday's weather also caused flooding for the third time this year in the Rosetown area of Kingston.
Despite houses in the area being built high off the street the State Emergency Service had to respond to water coming into two homes yesterday.
"Certainly the rough weather kept the SES crews busy across the state," spokesperson Chris Marks said.
"In the South East we had 32 requests for assistance, so our volunteers were certainly working hard."
More bad weather is expected over the weekend.
Rosetown resident Peter Frankling said the water came up quickly and surrounded his home.
"I was talking to a friend earlier in the day and I said, 'I reckon it might flood again' — and within five minutes it had come up over the road … it's come in quite hard and quite fast," he said.
Yesterday Kingston District Council voted to order a drainage study to look into how flooding could be prevented in Rosetown.
Council chief executive Ian Hart said it appeared that the flooding was becoming more common and that water lying around for extended periods could have negative health effects.
"You talk to people who have been here many more years than I have and they're saying they haven't seen anything like it before — what's happened in the last few weeks — for many, many years," he said.
"This might be the new norm — we don't know."
Flinders University professor Patrick Hesp has been studying erosion along the Limestone Coast for several years.
He said the storms and damage appeared to be occurring "pretty much random" rather than being part of a growing pattern.
"We're just having one of those years where we're having a storm every month and I believe another one is coming this weekend," Professor Hesp said.
Bruce Parker filmed huge waves crashing over the Cape Jaffa jetty on Tuesday.
"You will see in that video there is a little bit of damage to the jetty — just off the shore line, boards have lifted a bit," he said.
In Robe power poles and beaches were damaged.
Mayor Lisa Ruffell said the council had put rubble down on Fox Beach after sand added after last month's storms washed away.
"It was pretty wild — the winds were so strong," she said.
"I don't think I've ever seen the sea so rough and coming right at us, with the waves coming up across our coastline."
A seal was seen waddling out of the marina and wandering around town.
"He was so cute, but I could feel his pain, because it was just so bad, the weather," Cr Ruffell said.
"The marina, where it was, the water was right over the car park there and so I thought, 'He doesn't probably want to go in it.'
"I wouldn't blame him."
More windy and rainy weather is expected on Friday, Saturday and Sunday.
Bureau of Meteorology meteorologist Lincoln Trainor said a front would come through the South East on Friday, along with a broad low-pressure system.
"It is going to a bit more wild, windy and wet from Friday onwards," he said.
