Heatherton Rd flooded

Heatherton Road, Dandenong was closed due to floodwaters on 14 October. Picture: MATTHEW KIRWAN

A section of Heatherton Road, Dandenong closed for three days due to floodwater.

The road has been covered by risen waters in Dandenong Creek between Monash Freeway and Stud Road from Friday 14 October.

VicTraffic has advised drivers to instead use Princes Highway or Monash Freeway.

The road remained closed three days after a final Minor Flood Warning for Dandenong Creek at Police Road, Rowville was issued by Vic Emergency at 6pm on 14 October.

The warning stated the creek’s level peaked at 4.56 metres, just below the Minor Flood Level of 4.6 metres.

The creek catchment had recorded about 33 millimetres of rainfall on 13-14 October.

Greens candidate for Dandenong, Matthew Kirwan, said the road closure due to flooding showed the “lunacy” of Southern Metropolitan Cemeteries Trust’s now-abandoned plan for a cemetery on the adjoining wetlands.

It also showed that “climate change is happening now”.

“The frequency of extreme weather events like flooding is increasing.

“Once flooding like this happened every 25 years in Dandenong, now this is the second such flood in just over 10 years.”

He called on the State Government to stop supporting offshore gas drilling, which he said would increase greenhouse gases and the likelihood of extreme weather events.