A Dam Springs Leak, Homes Evacuated in Victoria

A Dam Springs Leak, Homes Evacuated in Victoria
Ross River Dam at over 230 percent capacity in Far North Queensland, Australia. (Neilly Group Engineering/Storyful)
AAP
By AAP
10/3/2020
Updated:
10/3/2020

More than 100 people have been told to evacuate homes over fears a leaking dam south of Geelong could burst.

Victoria’s State Emergency Service has been working through the night to empty a 180-megalitre dam in Torquay after leaks were identified putting the structure at risk of “catastrophic failure”.

Volunteers knocked on doors at over 40 homes around 1.30am on Oct 3, telling 109 people to leave. A few refused, an SES spokeswoman told AAP.

Water has been pumped from the dam into nearby wetlands all night and will continue to be pumped out of the dam for the next 24 hours.

The SES spokeswoman told AAP engineers were on site assessing the dam and a community meeting would be held on Saturday afternoon to update affected residents.

Tiffanie Turnbull in Melbourne