Geelong Weather
Geelong copped a flood warning overnight, the Barwon's up, and the Bureau is forecasting another 50-70mm before morning. If you've lived in regional Victoria long enough you know the drill. If you haven't, here's the short version.
What actually matters in a flash flood
Power goes first. The wind takes out a line somewhere and you're in the dark for anywhere between 20 minutes and three days. A portable power station in the 500Wh range will run a fridge for 8-10 hours, charge phones for a week, and run a fan if the heat comes back. They're around AU$600. Worth it if you live anywhere the storms come through more than once a year.
A decent rechargeable headlamp beats a torch by a long way — both hands free when you're checking the back fence at 2am. Get one with a red-light mode so you don't blind everyone. About $30.
For the car
Never drive through floodwater. You know this. The reason people still do it is because they think their SUV is fine. Six inches of water lifts a small car off the road. Twelve inches takes a 4WD. If you have to be in the car overnight while you wait, an emergency car kit with a jump-start pack is the obvious thing — they're $80-120 and live in the boot forever.
If your phone runs flat, you're stranded with no way to call SES. A 20,000mAh power bank is enough for five full charges. Keep one in the glovebox, charged.
House stuff
Sandbags are still the answer. The council depot usually has them free during a warning — check the Geelong council site before driving over because they get cleaned out. A small stockpile of heavy-duty contractor bags in the shed lets you make your own from sand or soil in a pinch.
Check the gutters now, not later. Half the "flash flood damaged my ceiling" stories are actually overflowing gutters that backed up under the roofline. A steel mesh gutter guard is a Saturday afternoon job that pays off for a decade.
If you've got electronics in a basement or garage, put them on a shelf. Even three inches off the floor is enough.
Phone stays dry
A proper waterproof phone pouch is $15 and you can still touch the screen through it. The ones that loop around your neck are the right ones. Don't trust IP68 ratings in actual rain — they're for a swimming pool, not horizontal water hitting the speaker grilles at 40 km/h.
The dumb stuff to skip
Don't buy a generator on the day of a storm. The decent ones are sold out, the cheap ones at Bunnings will leave you stranded, and you'll spend more than the power station above. Don't bother with "emergency food" subscription boxes — your pantry is fine for three days. Don't buy a kayak to evacuate; you'll never use it again.
Stay off the road. Charge everything now. Call the SES on 132 500 if water gets near the house. That's it.
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