Seaworks executive officer Glenn Jones was shocked by what he found, or to be precise, didn’t find, when he inspected the Williamstown entertainment precinct following Monday morning’s storms.
“We couldn’t see any of the decking of the lower landing, it was completely submerged.”
If it wasn’t for the boat, Summer Bay, still tied to the jetty’s wooden bollards protruding out of the water, Mr Jones might’ve assumed the lower landing attached to Seaworks main pier, had floated away entirely.
Afterall, there was plenty of other detritus that had washed up courtesy of the gale force winds and storm surge early on the morning of September 2.
“We saw some unusual things float up onto the slipway, some pieces of timber from who knows where,” he said.
“I’ve been here just over five years and never seen anything like it before.”
High water levels have meant the jetty remained submerged, but given it was already closed for maintenance works on the larger pier it’s attached to, Mr Jones wasn’t overly concerned.
“There’s some major repairs that need to be done, so it’s not going to really impact us at all.”
While the impact of the weekend storms wasn’t as severe in the inner west as in other parts of Melbourne, emergency services were still kept busy.
Footscray SES received 24 calls for assistance from 7pm on September 1 to 1pm on September 2, while Hobsons Bay SES received 23 over the same period, with most for fallen trees and damaged buildings.
Williamstown library and town hall were closed on Monday and Tuesday to assess damage caused by high winds which topped 100 kilometers per hour in Hobsons Bay.
All other libraries within the municipality remained open.
Cade Lucas
