While few will open a bottle of bubbly today, Keilor resident Barry Webster decided a glass of wine at 11am might soften the blow of the Maribyrnong River flooding his home.
More than 1.5 meters of water entered the ground level of his Flora Street home overnight, despite the river usually flowing hundreds of meters away.
Barry Webster and Tanya Gridley watch the Maribyrnong River rise in Keilor. Credit: Paul Rovere
While much of his downstairs furniture and electronics have been damaged beyond repair, Webster said he was most concerned about having to write off the two cars in the garage: a new Mustang and a Meyers Manx beach buggy of 1963.
He was thankful that he had decided to spend the night in his factory, considering his next-door neighbors were woken up by water lapping at the end of their bed at 3am.
“I always said I wanted river front views, but not like this,” Webster said.
“I have a glass roof above, so I decided to have a glass of wine and wait for the water to go down. Really, you have to laugh at it.
“I’m fine at the moment, it hasn’t fully sunk in yet. Walking down the stairs and seeing the floating lounge…it’s a bit surreal, like a movie.
“The SES turned up this morning, they were great. Everything is fine, no one is hurt, that’s the most important thing.”