The City of Ballarat responded to more than 200 reports of damage stemming from recent rain events in the city.
Ballarat recorded more than 126mm of rain from 6 October to 20 October, including 81mm in two days in the week ending 14 October.
Although the city largely escaped major damage when compared to other parts of Victoria, City of Ballarat’s operations team were busy working to safely restore community assets.
The Customer Service Team received about 500 calls from the community relating to the rain event incidents, although several calls were duplicating reports of the same incidents.
Repair crews have already responded to 214 jobs, mostly relating to road maintenance and repair, with drainage and pathway damage also featuring prominently.
There were safety assessments conducted on 68 roads, resulting in roads being closed, safety signage being installed, or roads eventually being deemed safe for use.
Six roads remain closed as crews work to conduct repairs as quickly as possible.
A majority of road damage has occurred in the north-western areas of the municipality, while repair works have been conducted throughout the council area.
City of Ballarat chief executive officer, Evan King, said staff were working as quickly as possible, but pleaded for patience in the significant recovery effort.
“We now have a solid understanding of the damage that has been caused in and around Ballarat and we have taken many steps towards recovery,” he said.
“Our crews are going to extraordinary lengths to restore our infrastructure, but in some cases the damage is quite severe.
“We also know there could be more rain on the way and although Ballarat escaped the worst of the damage, there is the possibility of further flooding events in the future,” he said on 20 October.
“Our thoughts go out to people in the northern parts of the state where many communities have already been severely affected, or where people are still waiting to see how high the river rises over the coming days.”
