Water floods Melbourne Airport terminal as wild storms batter city
Flights have been delayed and Christmas travel plans thrown into chaos after wild weather lashed Victoria, with four international flights diverted.
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Christmas travel plans have been thrown into chaos on the busiest day of the year for air travel after several flights were grounded due to wild weather.
Four Melbourne-bound international flights have also been diverted to Adelaide and Sydney, with thick fog making it unsafe for them to land at Tullamarine.
A Melbourne Airport spokesman said on Friday travellers would need to be patient while waiting for the conditions to clear and to allow for extra time.
“Flights are definitely still able to land and take off, they just require car escorts to the bays so it takes extra time,” the spokesman said.
“There are delays across the entire network, but all residual delays from yesterday’s storms have been cleared.”
One disgruntled traveller took to social media to complain about the delays.
“Melbourne airport playing flight bingo as every third flight or so being cancelled, will wait and see if I have a family Christmas,” he said.
Others have shared pictures at the airport, showing barely-visible planes parked and unmoving on the tarmac.
It comes after heavy rainfall poured through the roof of a busy terminal at Melbourne Airport on Thursday afternoon, wreaking havoc during the peak travel period.
Storms lashed Victoria throughout the evening, leaving much of Melbourne humid and blanketed in thick fog on Friday morning.
Decent hail in Newtown. pic.twitter.com/XxfzkGoQAX
— Sally san (@Nipponfafa) December 22, 2022
Hail storm in Geelong earlier! 😳
— Victorian Storm Chasers (@VicStormChasers) December 22, 2022
🎥 Lachlan B#StormHour#weather#SevereWeather#Geelong@krock955@geelongaddy
Licensing available via @SevereWeatherAUpic.twitter.com/aHjVEgp4bw
Parts of Geelong and Corio were hit with snow-like hail stones, and several homes were flooded during the storms.
Two men were also forced to climb on to the roof of their car after it became trapped in floodwaters.
Suburbs in Melbourne’s north, including Craigieburn, Fawkner, Epping and Sunbury, copped the worst of the storms and was the highest callout area for the SES.
The SES responded to 310 requests for assistance since about 6pm on Thursday and a spokesman said while the weather had been fierce, conditions had not been beyond the scope of their volunteers.
It comes after heavy rainfall poured through the roof of a busy terminal at Melbourne Airport on Thursday afternoon, wreaking havoc during the peak travel period.
A traveller captured the moment water flooded through several light fixtures inside domestic Terminal 1, which services QANTAS, on Thursday about 2.20pm.
It is understood all external crew ground were ordered off the tarmac while all flights were temporarily grounded as the ferocious storm unfolded.
A large puddle of water could be seen spilling on the tiled floor near a departure lounge, outside of retailer and newsagent WHSmith.
Shocked bystanders watched on while staff attempt to bring the situation under control as the puddle of water grows larger by the second.
The extent of destruction becomes clear as the footage shared by Jacqui Felgate shifted toward a QANTAS departure lounge, showing the carpet drenched in water.
One user commented on her post: “We live 10 mins from airport and boy was it a huge storm. Totally hammered here in Gladstone Park!”
A second clip showed water flooding through a pub inside the same terminal, drenching its window tables after customers abandoned their seats.
“One minute starts raining outside. Next minute inside the pub WTAF,” it was captioned.
Another traveller claimed she was stuck on her plane for close to an hour as the deluge hit.
We just landed at Melbourne airport and were stuck on the plane for almost an hour because of the rain. Turns out the terminal flooded too 😠see if you can see us on the news LMFAO
— Jenna ✨ (@BitterSweetJenn) December 22, 2022
“We just landed at Melbourne Airport and were stuck on the plane for almost an hour because of the rain,” Jenna said.
A Melbourne Airport spokeswoman confirmed the leaks were due to the storm which passed over the city about 2pm Thursday.
Melbourne airport shutdown due to electrical storm about to hit!! All external ground crew evacuated! This is a new experience for me!! #Airport@Melbourne
— Kristian Livolsi (@kristianlivolsi) December 22, 2022
She said there was no impact to travellers as they could still walk through the area while staff attempted to clean up the mess.
“This afternoon’s storm has resulted in a number of water leaks in our terminals,” the airport spokeswoman said in a statement to Twitter.
This afternoon's storm has resulted in a number of water leaks in our terminals. While we are attending to all affected areas as quickly as possible, if you’re currently at the airport, please take care when moving around.
— Melbourne Airport (@Melair) December 22, 2022
We apologise to passengers for the inconvenience.
“While we are attending to all affected areas as quickly as possible, if you’re currently at the airport, please take care when moving around.”
It comes as more than 100,000 passengers were expected at Melbourne Airport on Thursday as the holiday travel season gets underway.
The severe weather, which hit Melbourne just after 2pm, forced the diversion of some flights while others remained in a holding pattern.
According to the Bureau of Meteorology more severe thunderstorms could occur throughout the evening combined with light winds.
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