More flooding, storms to hit Geelong region as climate changes

Geelong will experience more intense and unpredictable weather events as the climate changes, and councils fear existing infrastructure may not cope.

More intense and unpredictable weather events will continue to put pressure on the region’s infrastructure and lead to thousands of dollars in damage.

The Legislative Council’s environment and planning committee met with members of the Geelong, Bellarine and Surf Coast communities on Wednesday in Aireys Inlet to hear about the impact of climate change in the region, as part of its inquiry into climate resilience.

Geelong was hit with heavy rain on October 4 and 18 which led to flash flooding as well as a severe wind event in September, with gusts of more than 100km/h.

A “catastrophic” storm in February also brought down power lines in Anakie and left thousands without power for days.

Surf Coast Shire placemaking and environment general manager, Chris Pike, said the risks of the climate crisis were increasing and the region was already seeing the impacts of coastal erosion and rising sea levels.

“We’ve had a dry winter and we are facing a high bush fire risk this summer,” he said.

“We will have more extreme and catastrophic fire rating days.

Mr Pike said the region has also experienced “increasingly unpredictable weather events” such as last month’s severe wind storm, culminating in about $100,000 in damage.

“Our drainage infrastructure is ageing and those intense downpours are revealing that,” he said.

“An aged care facility in Anglesea was evicted and displaced for months in 2022 due to this.”

Geelong council’s senior sustainability officer Pete Mercouriou also said its drainage systems were under pressure and leading to overland flooding in heavy rain events.

Borough of Queenscliffe chief executive Martin Gill said they had noticed storm surges had been more intense.

All three councils have environmental action plans but said implementing the plan was a struggle due to funding.

“To implement the plan, we struggle to resource it,” Mr Gill said.

Amber Clarke, Corangamite Catchment Management Authority chief executive, expected the region to become hotter and dryer.

“When it does rain, it will likely be a storm event,” she said.

“As our climate warms, storm surges will likely increase.”

Chair of the inquiry committee, Ryan Batchelor, said climate change was an “undeniable reality”.

“Its impacts on our built environment and infrastructure require our urgent attention,” he said.

“This inquiry aims to provide a comprehensive understanding of the risks faced by Victoria and to assess the effectiveness of current measures in place.”

The committee will continue to hold public hearings across the state before submitting its report to parliament by June 30 next year.

Originally published as More flooding, storms to hit Geelong region as climate changes