Woman camping at flooded Wye River with her daughters says ‘it’s just heartbreaking, strangers are hugging strangers’
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Hundreds of people have evacuated a major camping ground after a severe thunderstorm caused flash flooding at Wye River, closed a major scenic tourism road and washed cars out to sea.
An emergency warning was in place for the Wye, Kennett and Cumberland rivers in the Lorne area in Victoria’s south-west coast after thunderstorms dumped more than 170mm of rain on the area on Thursday afternoon.
A video posted on social media showed a 4WD being taken by a raging current as spectators watched from higher ground.
Patrice Capogreco was camping with her two daughters at the BIG4 Wye River Holiday Park – a few hundred metres from the nearby beach – when the flooding hit.
Capogreco has been visiting the site for around a decade and has become close with many of the regular campers. This year, they had an evacuation plan for bushfires, but they didn’t expect floods.
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A bushfire at the town of Carlisle River in the Otway region near the town of Wye River was still being controlled on Thursday evening after springing up last Saturday, while another bushfire at Cape Otway was under control after temporarily closing portions of the Great Ocean Road near Apollo Bay over the weekend.
“We secured our site last night knowing there was a lot of rain coming, but not the extent of it,” Capogreco said. “Then this morning at about 8.30am we realised some of our tents had leaked.
“I heard someone say ‘there’s trees falling down’, unzipped the front door and things were floating in this really big river which is usually just grass.”
Capogreco said her daughter, 12, began to scream.
“I just started yelling ‘get out, everyone has to get out’,” she said.
“My other daughter, 17, was in a tent with friends beside us, and I was banging on the doors saying ‘we’ve got to go’.”
They initially jumped in their car before realising they wouldn’t make it out in a vehicle. After packing important things, staff from the caravan park circulated through the campers, advising them to climb to higher ground where they would be evacuated by the Country Fire Authority to the Wye River pub.
By Thursday afternoon, it had turned into a refuge for about 500 people, Capogreco said.
“It’s pretty full on here, people are trying to find family members, it’s really scary,” she said.
“We’ve lost everything, you can see caravans and cars floating away, it’s just heartbreaking, strangers are hugging strangers.
“The one good thing is sometimes the worst events bring out the best in people.”
Capogreco said she was unsure how long the roads would be blocked and when they would be able to return to survey the damage. The general store had also been flooded in Wye River, she said, but other structures appeared to be safe.
Her biggest fear was how much worse it could have been.
“We received emergency notifications [on our phones] after it was too late,” she said. “They came 30 minutes after we evacuated. We definitely had no warning.
“We needed clear communication. What if this had have been at night? We would have drowned, the water came so quick.”
The Bureau of Meteorology issued a warning at midday on Thursday for severe thunderstorms likely to produce heavy rainfall leading to flash flooding in the next several hours.
More than 175mm of rainfall was observed in the six hours to 3pm at the nearby Mount Cowley.
On Thursday evening, the scenic Great Ocean Road was closed in both directions from Skenes Creek Rd in Skenes Creek to Fairhaven, with only emergency services allowed to pass.
Transport Victoria said the closure was due to “extreme weather, flooding and possible land slips”, with closure points subject to change with “little or no notice”.
“Motorists are urged to avoid the area,” it said in a statement. “Conditions are changing rapidly and are dangerous.
“V/Line coach services that normally run along the Great Ocean Road are detouring inland, and will skip Kennett River and Wye River stops.”
The local Foodworks grocery store in Lorne was forced to shut its doors until further notice due to flash flooding, as it urged people to avoid the area.
The Lorne Community House had opened its doors to anyone escaping the conditions who needed shelter.
Victoria’s premier, Jacinta Allan, said the footage coming out of Wye River was “terrifying”.
“I’m thinking of the community and campers along the Great Ocean Road tonight,” she said in a statement on Thursday.

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