When skies unleashed record‑breaking rain along Victoria’s Great Ocean Road, the ancient surf seemed to rise up and remind the land of its raw power. Torrential downpours in the region around Wye River and Cumberland River overwhelmed rivers and drains, pushing floodwaters through caravan parks and along winding coastal roads, sweeping cars and caravans into a churning embrace with the Southern Ocean. What had been parked vehicles on holiday turns became drifting metal adrift in spray and surf, a stark testament to extreme weather in the state’s south‑west.
In the days since the storm’s peak, emergency services have turned to recovery — not merely of people or homes, but of the material traces left behind by the deluge. On Thursday morning, a Black Hawk helicopter was deployed along the Surf Coast at Wye River and Cumberland River to painstakingly haul dozens of vehicles back to land. Skilled operators lowered winches into surf, hooking cars stranded among rocks and waves, lifting them skyward before placing them on shore where they could be inspected by owners or insurers.
State Emergency Service officials said the salvage work was essential not only to clear hazardous debris but also to reduce risk to the public and responders when flood‑flung wrecks remain exposed in dynamic surf zones. Roads between Lorne and Skenes Creek were temporarily closed during operations to ensure safety as exclusion zones were set up around lifting areas.
The extraordinary scene — helicopter blades churning sea spray as cars bobbed like buoys in the surf — captured both the scale of what nature can unsettle and the care with which communities respond. In the wet‑season aftermath, locals and holiday‑makers alike found their journeys interrupted, possessions lost to mud and water, but also rallied to support one another amid clean‑up efforts.
This week’s weather event follows intense rainfall — in places over 170 mm in just hours — that pushed rivers over their banks and left holiday parks submerged shortly after seasonal holiday‑makers had arrived. Though there have been no confirmed fatalities, the chaos of flooded roads and vehicles washed toward the sea served as a vivid reminder of both nature’s unpredictability and the resilience of communities who help each other recover.
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Sources • Reuters — Flash flooding hits Victoria, cars washed out to sea • ABC News — Record‑breaking floods along Great Ocean Road • The Nightly — Helicopter salvages cars swept away • Herald Sun — Recovery operations underway • The Guardian — Impact on local communities