HOUSES in Miners Rest were inundated with flood water yesterday after the Burrumbeet Creek burst its banks. Residents praised the efforts of CFA brigades who had laid hay bales along Albert Street to protect houses.But the water could not be withheld before it infiltrated nearby properties. Len Evans arrived at his Miners Rest house after driving his daughters to Melbourne Airport in Tullamarine. He arrived home yesterday morning to find the water climbing about 10 centimetres up the walls inside his house.“It just happened so quickly,” he said. “I opened the door and it just poured out.”He has lived in the house for 15 years but had never seen the creek rise so high in that time.Lloyd Sims arrived at his son’s home about 8.30am yesterday but two hours later water had reached knee height inside the house. The family worked to raise some electrical appliances above the floor but the house was badly damaged.By the afternoon the backyard was still under more than 30 centimetres of water. Mr Sims said Miners Rest needed permanent protection from flooding.“We just want some authorities to do something about building a levee bank out there,” he said.Next door Jason Holgate had just moved into the house on Thursday. By yesterday morning his backyard was underwater, with the water threatening to come inside the house.Mr Holgate said the water was “only half an inch” from coming in through the back door.“We tried to open up all the gates to get flow going,” he said.Miners Rest resident of 20 years Stacey Madden said she had never seen such severe flooding from the Burrumbeet Creek.She said it took many residents by surprise.While her house was spared, Ms Madden said the flood was devastating for many others.“We couldn’t have guessed this was going to happen,” she said.