Child rescued from stormwater drain, businesses clean up flood damage as rain continues to soak Melbourne

Apr 04, 2024

An 11-year-old boy who was rescued after being sucked into a stormwater drain in Melbourne's west says he was worried he was going to die.

Jake Gilbert said he was riding his bike through swirling floodwater in Altona on Thursday when he was suddenly sucked underwater and though pipes, trapping him underneath the grating of a flooded stormwater drain.

Crews raced to the scene and were able to open the grate and free the boy "just in time".

Constable Peter Ivory was among those who helped save the boy, who is now recovering in hospital.

He said the boy's helmet got caught in the grate as he travelled through the pipe, allowing him to hold on.

"He was holding onto the grate, literally by the ends of his fingers," he said.

He said it was lucky someone was passing by who called for help, and an SES member was able to reach the boy.

"He was an off-duty member that thankfully was in the area at the time and heard it over the radio and came through first," he said.

As the SES member worked to unbolt the grate, Constable Ivory reassured the boy.

"At one stage he asked if he was going to make it, and I said: 'Yeah, you're gonna make it mate — it's all good, just hold on tight.'"

Jake escaped with just a few scratches, and one less shoe.

"I was trying to get up but I couldn't because the current was too strong," Jake said.

"I'm pretty sure the current just took me.

"As it was pulling me along, I was thinking: 'Am I gonna die?'

"When it took me down, I was like: 'I'm not ready to go, I don't want to go to heaven, and that's why I tried to get out'."

Also racing through his mind, he said, was whether his friend was okay, and what his parents and school would think.

His friend was safe outside, and they were able to talk while Jake held on and waited for emergency services.

He had a message for the emergency workers who saved his life.

"You're the best people I've ever met in my life, and you're very good at your jobs," he said.

He said the experience has not put him off riding his bike, but he might avoid riding in the rain.

"If someone asked me: 'What would you rather do: ride or play video games?' Ride 100 per cent," he said.

Tony Gilbert said he was "in shock" when he received a panicked phone call from a police officer saying his son had been rescued from a drain.

"We only have one child, for such an event to happen like that when he was just doing what he loves — my heart stopped," he said.

When his son told him he felt traumatised, Mr Gilbert said he tried to make the siltation lighter: "I said: 'Jake, you don't need to do this to get time off school, mate'."

Mr Gilbert expressed concerns about people potentially driving through floodwater over the long weekend.

"Don't underestimate, for a second, floodwater," he said

"If you can't see the bottom, don't walk through it, don't ride through it, don't drive through it."

Across town, communities just east of Melbourne are on high alert after heavy rain caused flash flooding.

A watch and act flood warning was in place for the Yarra River from Millgrove to Warrandyte, and the State Emergency Service said it had received more than 200 calls for help.

Yarra Junction businesses were on this morning counting the cost after flash flooding along the town's main street.

Butcher Dom Failla said he got a phone call telling him the drain outside his shop was overflowing.

"By the time we got here, the whole road was covered, the car park was flooded and it was coming through the shops because the drains just couldn't handle it," he said.

"The shops beside us, it was coming through them like a river."

Mr Faillia said a nearby grated pipe had filled with leaves, branches and rubbish, causing it to overflow.

The water swallowed the butcher shop's coolroom and refrigerator motors.

Mr Faillia said it would be at least six days before he could get the electrical damage fixed and could reopen his store.

"Normally, we have Saturday trade and [Melbourne] Cup day is coming up," he said.

"We just rang up our suppliers and told them not to deliver our stock for the day. We've just sent it all back."

But Mr Faillia said he felt like he was the lucky one as a neighbouring cafe and real estate agency were completely inundated "from front to back".

Yarra Ranges Shire mayor Jim Child lives at Yarra Junction and said he had 50 millimetres of rain in his gauge.

"These events come on us so quick and it's not like up north where there's some period of time to get some sandbagging in place," Mr Child said.

But he said he did not believe a failure to maintain infrastructure was to blame for the flooding of businesses.

He said the ground was saturated and local creeks and rivers were at capacity.

"Our drainage systems are just not designed to deal with these big heavy rain events that we're experiencing.

"Lilydale on Tuesday night was exactly the same," he said.

"The water's just got nowhere to go."

He said damage from flash flooding was spread far and wide across the shire and the council was doing all it could to help residents and businesses clean up.

"Upwey, Belgrave, Tecoma, Kallista and then down the mountain to Lilydale and then up into the valleys towards Warburton and across the hills or across the Yarra River flats."

He said engineering teams were assessing the damage to infrastructure.

Earlier this week, traders saw their shops inundated and residents were forced to abandon their cars at Lilydale when 70mm of rain fell in an hour-and-a-half.

The Yarra River is expected to hit a major flood level of 6.1 metres at Coldstream on Friday night but stay just above the minor flood level of 3 metres at Warrandyte.

The Warburton Caravan Park sits on the banks of the Yarra River.

Owner Simon Edwards said the water was lapping at the edge of the park.

"We've evacuated the lower side of our caravan park which is predominantly tourists, camping and caravan sites," he said.

"We've closed that part of the park for this long weekend which is very unfortunate for the guests and for us."

Mr Edwards said he was sandbagging and shutting off power and gas.

"I'm feeling quite wary," he said.

"At this stage, I am quietly confident that we're going to dodge a major bullet but my heart goes out to a lot of other people who have been affected by flooding."

Floodwater has cut major roads right across the city and surrounds, from Cardinia and Dandenong in Melbourne's south-east, to Heidelberg and Bulleen in Melbourne's north-east, Bulla and Sunbury to the city's north-west and the Healesville-Yarra Glen Road in the Yarra Valley.

Countless country roads are flooded to the west and north of Melbourne.

Rain has also turned Diamond Creek into a raging river between Hurstbridge and St Andrews.

Meanwhile landslips have cut roads in the Dandenongs, an area still recovering after 76 homes were destroyed and 173 properties were damaged by destructive storms in June 2021.

The Bureau of Meteorology said more rain was forecast over the coming days, including up to 30 millimetres in the Yarra Ranges and Dandenongs.

"We do have another cold front, moving through southern Victoria and that's bringing some showers," senior forecaster Christie Johnson said.

"Probably not as intense as yesterday in that yesterday, we did have some thunderstorms, and there's a lower risk of thunderstorms today."

Search any location in Australia to find nearby active incidents

Stay up-to-date with local coverage on ABC Radio, the emergency broadcaster