Terrified residents prepare to flee their homes over fears the nearby dam may BURST - as police and SES workers go house to house warning neighbours of the danger
Terrified residents are preparing to flee their homes over fears a nearby dam could burst any second.
Emergency crews swarmed Torquay, Victoria, at midnight on Friday as concern was raised over the leaking dam.
Kate Earnshaw, a resident of Pintail Drive, Torquay, said emergency services had briefed them about the issue about 9pm on Friday.
State Emergency Service volunteers and firefighters standing on Pintail Drive, Torquay at midnight on Friday as they prepared for potential emergency evacuations over fears a nearby dam could collapse. Picture: Kate Earnshaw
However, at 11pm they returned to tell the residents to pack their bags and get ready to evacuate if necessary within the hour, Ms Earnshaw said.
At 12.30am on Saturday morning, the mother-of-two spoke to Daily Mail Australia as she stood outside on her street with her bags packed watching the dam wall nervously.
'I'm just standing here with my neighbour,' she said.
'It's 180,000 megalitres of water, that's 20m deep, that is seeping out at the edges at the moment and they're worried that the edges are going to drop, and that it will just seep out and burst completely.'
Ms Earnshaw said the whole of Pintail Drive was preparing to leave, with at least 100 people, children and their pets getting packed to go to an evacuation centre.
Families in four houses in front of the dam had already been evacuated, she said.
Residents were packing their bags ready to go to an evacuation centre on Friday night
Emergency services can be seen assessing the dam on Horseshoe Bend Rd on Friday night
The entire area is a new housing estate, with most of the houses under a year old, many still under construction, she said.
'There's a lot of families here that have young children,' she said.
Ms Earnshaw said everyone had their bags packed with their valuables and essentials.
'We have everything ready to go but we just haven't woken up the children yet to go to the evacuation centre.'
Worried residents where packing up their important documents and essentials ready to leave in a hurry
Emergency lighting was set up at the dam site
Victoria Police confirmed the dam is located on a property on Horseshoe Bend Road and was being assessed.
'Residents in some surrounding properties on Pintail Drive have been notified of the assessment but no evacuations have been required at this stage,' Victoria Police said in a statement.
'Local water authorities are currently investigating and DELWP (Department of Environment, Land, Water and Planning) have been notified.'
Emergency services waiting in the street, ready to evacuate residents if the dam should burst
Residents believe the dam is on the Torquay Flower Farm on Horseshoe Bend Road although Daily Mail Australia was unable to confirm this with police at time of writing.
Ms Earnshaw said the dam had been seeping for a few days.
Emergency services could be seen setting up emergency lighting and assisting residents in the darkness, and at the dam site, at midnight.