Parts of Altona and Seaholme were flooded by the sea on Tuesday, with Altona Pier partly submerged and roads under water.
Altona Village Traders Association head Kim Walsh said the waves were bigger than this month’s king tide.
“This is the worst I’ve seen it for a long time and it’s actually eroding some of our beach; it’ll be interesting to see what’s left,” he said.
“A car almost crashed into the wall of our old [Altona] Homestead.
“There’s three cars been smashed.”
“The bottom part of the pier, at the very end, is actually submerged in water.
“Our little Altona Bay, I haven’t seen it that rough and choppy. There are huge waves.
“At Fleming’s pool they’re hitting the seawall and just spraying up all over the road. It’s quite sensational actually.
“There’d be a lot of damage I imagine. Some of the houses along there have underground car parks and I’m assuming they have been flooded, but I couldn’t get access that far.”
Flooding along the Esplanade, from Altona to Seaholme, caused the closure of numerous side streets.
Altona Laverton Historical Society president Peter Weaver said he couldn’t get into his home on the corner of Queen Street and Millers Road, a block from the beach.
“I couldn’t get out of my car into my house, it was like a foot deep,” he said.
“It was just storm surge more than anything else.”
Altona SES unit controller Craig MacCallum said several beachfront houses had been flooded.
“There’s been a few houses where underground garages below street level are full of water.
“Double garages full of water completely.”
