A Black Hawk helicopter has retrieved 14 cars washed out to sea after record flash flooding in Victoria.
Authorities began to recover vehicles at Wye River and Cumberland River, along Victoria's Surf Coast, on Thursday morning after torrential rain wreaked havoc a week earlier.
Victoria's State Emergency Service said 12 vehicles had been successfully recovered from the Cumberland River and two from the Wye River in an update issued just before midday.
All vehicles retrieved were safely moved to a car park.
The Great Ocean Road between Lorne and Skenes Creek reopened early on Thursday afternoon after closing to allow the Black Hawk to pluck stranded vehicles from the surf.
The salvage operation took about three hours.
"And whilst there has already been two salvaged from the shallow shore break at Wye River, there is another two that we know of in below the surf," SES chief officer Alistair Drayton said.
A number of caravans had also disintegrated under the surface of the water, he said.
Vehicles were lifted to a car park on the road and then trucked to another area for owners or insurers to inspect.
The helicopter was organised by marine salvage experts who Parks Victoria use when vessels run into trouble along the Great Ocean Road.
More than 178mm of rain fell in the area over a period of six hours last Thursday, with the Lorne station registering its highest 24-hour reading since records began in 1884.
Hundreds of people were displaced, with a child injured and flown to hospital.
The area is a popular tourist spot, welcoming thousands of holidaymakers over school holidays.
Water quality in the area has returned to normal, Victoria's Environment Protection Authority confirmed on Wednesday.
Risk to human health from swimming is considered likely to be low, but the regulator cautioned people to wear gloves, goggles and rubber boots while cleaning up.
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