A MAJOR road in the Upper Murray has been badly damaged from an intense thunderstorm on Thursday night.
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The Benambra-Corryong Road between the Murray Valley Highway turn-off and Stacey's Bridge was closed after flash flooding caused significant erosion underneath the road surface.
One lane of the road in the Nariel Valley has since been opened to all traffic in the Carmody's Cutting area after 40mm of rain fell in only 15 minutes late in the afternoon with the Corryong SES unit attending soon after.
There was also mud and debris left on the road between McNamara's Bridge and Stacey's Bridge.
"They were extremely localised storms," Corryong SES unit controller Sharyn Nankervis said.
"The effects of that falling onto the burnt out bush is there is nothing to stop it coming down and bringing all the rocks and everything else with it."
The SES unit attended about 8.30pm and had assistance from police before Regional Roads Victoria staff arrived.
Regional Roads Victoria North-Eastern regional director Steve Bowmaker confirmed debris flowed on to the road and caused some undermining and damage to drainage infrastructure.
One lane in the damaged section was re-opened under traffic management and RRV crews will work to repair the road over the weekend.
"Our bushfire recovery efforts are being rolled out in a dynamic, changing environment and we have to prioritise community safety at all times," Mr Bowmaker said.
"Crews attended Benambra-Corryong Road for inspections early this morning and reopened one lane of traffic as soon as the road was deemed safe."
The damage followed soon after a declaration from RRV that 67 local roads and five arterial roads had been inspected and repaired in the Towong Shire.
"Restoring road access following the bushfires has been critical in reconnecting remote communities with the services and support they need, particularly for the primary producers in the Upper Murray," Towong mayor David Wortmann said.
"Following the fires our dairy farmers needed to continue milking and without adequate road access for milk trucks, dairy farmers can be left with no other option but to pour their milk down the drain."