Trapped 4wders near Dargo

Gday Robin,
Yeah, 100mm of rain which seemed to be localised.

Craig (crackles) posted this 2 days ago on thread 82244:

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Yep, I was one of the 50+ trapped in the valley over the last few days & what a circus it was. Dozens of cars swept away, 4 blown engines that I know of & many others swamped. We even rescued one guy at the big crossing of the Wonangatta River (southern end) about to be washed down stream in a metre of fast flowing water. He was damm lucky we just arrived or the next stop for him would have been Eaglevale 10km down stream!
As for solo travelling into the valley it's like any remote area without phone service. There will plenty of people around to lend a hand but you do need to have some plan to let others know where you are in case you are overdue plus work out how you will be recovered in case of breakdown.
While the rain this weekend may have been above average, really the last 10 years have been exceptionally dry and the vast majority of people have never experienced the High Country when it's really wet & yes it can get very wet all year round.
Take your time Paddy, check conditions & go well prepared.
Cheers Craig.............

Why would you go on a trip into that area when the weather reports were for heavy rain in the area.

From: http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2010/11/04/3056877.htm

Police organise food drops for stranded campers
Posted 1 hour 34 minutes ago

Map: Dargo 3862 Police are organising food drops for two groups of campers trapped by floodwaters in the Gippsland high country.

One group in the Wonnangatta Valley, north of Licola, is stranded because their four wheel drives were swamped when they tried to cross the river.

Another group of seven men are cut off by flood water in the Crooked River near Dargo.

The mother of one of the men, Helen Beggs from Warragul, says they have been stuck in the area since Saturday.

"They've actually run out of food," she said.

"The police are really good. They're going to assess the river today. If there's no improvement in the river, they'll arrange for food to be dropped in."

Yep was just below Talbotville - CH7 chopper dropped in supplies and did a story on it in 6pm news.

I could recognize the crossing.

Also showed an exciting bit of footage of a old Cruiser crossing the river which was running hard and a meter deep.

Wouldn't have tried it myself - as film was of car crossing the river on way to camp , I would assume it was taken before they knew they were stranded.

Lovely TV news segment showing the chopper dropping in some food and a laugh with the stranded gang, Aussie TV at its best..!

There's a good video about this story available on the Seven Victoria Website (see link below).

Channel Seven Victoria


Once the page loads, look for a video called "drivers stranded"


Doesn't look like they got any beer - had to settle for some snags, 2 minute noodles and some cans of baked beans.

cheers,


Nick