By Cassandra Morgan and Callum Godde, Aap
Residents of an Avondale Heights retirement village fear their homes are worthless after mismanaged floods forced them out of their community and left them traumatised.
Rivervue Retirement Village resident Stanislaw Korkliniewski became emotional on Thursday October 12 while reflecting on fleeing war-torn Germany as a child with his parents, with nothing but a suitcase and wooden storage box.
He and his family lived in overcrowded displaced person camps – a trauma that came back to him on October 14, 2022 when the sense of relief he initially felt moving into Rivervue was replaced with panic.
“The day the floods came rushing at around 9am, there was no warning whatsoever,“ Mr Korkliniewski told a parliamentary inquiry examining the 2022 disaster.
“Our haven was gone in an instant and we were left homeless … once again, with nothing but a suitcase over my head, my wife beside me, uncertain of the outcome.“
Mr Korkliniewski, who gave evidence at the inquiry alongside fellow Rivervue resident Colin Waters, said the community was later shocked to find out Rivervue’s owner and manager Tigcorp did not have the insurance to move all residents into temporary accommodation.
The company paid for emergency accommodation for 37 residents for two and a half weeks, but retirees otherwise had to pay for it themselves or move into the government-owned Mickleham quarantine facility.
Mr Korkliniewski couldn’t face that prospect and ended up forking out about $9000 for accommodation over the coming months, while he and Mr Waters feared their homes were worthless after the floods.
Melbourne Water’s flood modelling completely underestimated the risk to Rivervue, a failure the agency has acknowledged.
About 70 Rivervue residents were forced out of their homes when 47 properties at the village were inundated.
Tigcorp finance general manager Darren Lewis later told the inquiry the company felt severely let down after the villas flooded, given it bought the site in 2010 with a planning permit and endorsed plans already in place.
The company relied on Melbourne Water’s modelling and relayed information about flooding to residents based on that, Mr Lewis said.
He did not rule out legal action against Melbourne Water and said Tigcorp was keeping an open mind.
“We’re as equally aggrieved (as residents) because from our point of view, we’ve done nothing wrong,“ Mr Lewis said.
Tigcorp was planning further development at Rivervue but six metres above the flood level.
The inquiry was told outdated modelling was behind the slow escalation of flood warnings along Maribyrnong River before hundreds of homes were inundated.
Maribyrnong Community Recovery Committee chair Madeleine Serle said about 1500 residents in 600 homes were affected and about 80 homes were condemned.
“At this point in time, we’re at about 50 per cent occupancy,“ Ms Serle said.
“The remaining 50 per cent, like myself, are basically camping in unrestored homes as we negotiate insurance, delays and (other issues).
“We are hiding in plain sight.“
Victorian State Emergency Service chief operations officer Tim Wiebusch earlier explained to the inquiry how authorities were caught off-guard by the severity of flooding along the river.
Warnings for moderate flooding were sent out from October 12 before door-knocking of about 115 at-risk homes began, based on the scenarios provided by the Bureau of Meteorology and Melbourne Water.
“What then ensued on that Thursday night and into the early hours of Friday obviously was quite a significant rainfall event, with just on 100mm to 130mm across the catchment,“ Mr Wiebusch told the inquiry.
Warnings were escalated on Friday morning as the projected river peak was revised to 3.2m, prompting police and SES to doorknock another 200 homes from about 3am.
The Maribyrnong River eventually peaked at 4.216m.
Mr Wiebusch said the warnings were based on the best modelling and forecasting at the time.
Melbourne Water is working with Rivervue on a site-specific flood management plan.
