Whilst the recent storms brought much needed rain, they also resulted in a number of callouts for Swan SES. One callout was to help a property owner with some flood prevention. The heavy rain was eroding the driveway at the rural property and had the potential to make access to the residence difficult. It was one of the first callouts for some of our newer members and a good way to learn about flood prevention and sandbagging in a real situation without the added difficulty of pouring rain and raising floodwaters!
Gareth surveying the line.
Our first task was to find some sand so we could fill our sandbags as we had been told there was none available at the property. Once we had loaded the Hilux with approximately fifty sandbags we made our way out to the given location. The property owners were very surprised but thankful to see nine SES members jump out of two vehicles ready to help them out. Once the problem had been fully explained, a plan was formulated. The sandbags were placed in a low wall to divert water away from the main dwelling and hopefully prevent further erosion of the driveway with the next lot of autumn rain.
Wall is complete.
More experienced members of the unit were able to instruct newer recruits in the finer points of sandbagging and let them practice another new skill.