Mannum locals prepare to abandon houses to Murray floods

Mannum residents on the wrong side of the levee are preparing to lose everything when their homes and businesses are hit by floodwaters. These are the faces of our flood crisis.

Neville Paech at his Bolto home near Mannum, on November 23, 2022. Picture: Tom Huntley

Some have been here and know what to expect when the Murray rises and falls. None of these Mannum locals are under any illusions about what they have to do next.

John and Jane Jusup, shack owners

John and Jane Jusup were in Mannum on Tuesday grabbing what they could and loading up the car, facing the real possibility of saying goodbye to their beloved old-style family shack before a wall of water hits.

Built before regulations required stilts to lift homes above the 1956 flood level, the low-lying shack is right in harm’s way.

John said he had laid sandbags and had done all that was practical but if water levels reach the predictions, his efforts won’t protect anything.

However, he is not hanging around to find out.

“I’m not going to be here, I’m not putting myself in danger … we are going to turn the power off and move on, there is nothing else we can do,” he said.

John and Jane Jusup at their Bolto home near Mannum, on November 23, 2022. Picture: Tom Huntley

The shack has been in Jane’s family for years and she said the family can recall a tree branch floating in and smashing the windows.

And while the shack survived the 1974 flood and subsequent high water events, they are preparing for it to be completely inundated and maybe completely destroyed.

But, it may be five months before he even knows if the property survives.

“We are under no illusions, we are thinking April – the water will be high in December, a second peak at the end of December and perhaps three months (for the water) to recede,” he said.

“And that’s if we can get here, the roads will be all closed.

“And, we don’t have long with the ferry in action so we are quickly getting everything out before that closes.”

Neville Paech at his Bolto home near Mannum, on November 23, 2022. Picture: Tom Huntley

Neville Paech, resident

Neville Paech lives on the riverfront permanently after buying his property just after the major 1974 flooding event so he knows all too well the dangers of a swelling river.

The water – wise local has a solid flood mitigation plan he’s been preparing for months, but no amount of preparation can keep him in his home.

Neville has been busy moving the last of his valuables and is ready to go.

However, he is hanging around to the last minute before he vacates.

Neville said he was angry about water management decisions made interstate which will see banked up water released, creating a second peak to prolong the flooding.

“Idiots with the dams over there (interstate) one day we will stop making man-made disasters,” he said.

“New South Wales and Victoria don’t want to go dry, they hold the water back until they can’t and when it’s already flooding, you can’t let the water go because you’re going to flood again.

He said he had no concerns for the structure of his property, which is built to the regulations to withstand flood levels.

“Every 20GL is about 400 millimetres so we are watching it coming in – it’ll creep up quickly.

“Soon they’ll turn the septic off and the power, and the roads will be cut off so everyone has to get out.”

Neville said he was watching the flood mitigation works happening across the river to protect the township and was perplexed by the Mid Murray Council’s decision to build a levee to protect the lawned Mary Ann Reserve.

“Where’s the common sense, taxpayer money gone again,” he said.

“And they are going to dig up the asphalt to build the levee (in the main street), they only laid it six months ago.”

Kylie Rochow, Deja Vu Ski Shop owner in Mannum, on November 23, 2022. Picture: Tom Huntley

Kylie Rochow, Deja Vu Ski Shop owner

Kylie Rochow owns a Mannum business stuck on the wrong side of a temporary levee bank set to divide the town’s main street.

The Deja Vu Ski Shop will not be protected from the flood water and is bracing for complete inundation as the mitigation wall the Mid Murray Council has started to build goes around her store.

And for Kylie – who has owned the business for almost 10 years and employs two staff – it is not good enough and she feels let down.

“I feel like the council is protecting its own interests at the absolute exclusion of businesses that are the main draw cards of the town,” she said.

“They are not protecting us at all – I’m annoyed there has been no personal consultation with any of us at all.”

She said she attended a public meeting on Monday night where the levee plans were revealed and since then, she had not heard from council.

“We have not seen a single person from the council at all, to help or nothing.

Kylie said she was frustrated about the unknowns during a crisis situation and was begging for more information.

“I don’t know a time frame for when I have to get out,” she said.

“(To the council) please give us some clarity, we have questions.”

However, she knows trading will soon cease and she’ll have to close up and move out before water completely drowns out her store.

Kylie said the shop had about $500,000 of stock which will all have to be cleared out.

And, as for how long she’ll be out of business, she is preparing for no business for anywhere from six to many 12 months with recovery time included.

“I’m devastated, this was our chance to rebound after Covid.”

Age Carer Tahlia May and client Cynthia Crosley at Cynthia's home on River Lane in Mannum. Picture: Tom Huntley

Aged carer Tahlia May and client Cynthia Crowley, 95

Flood waters causing road closures and power outages will put Mannum’s most vulnerable in harm’s way, according to local aged carer Tahlia May.

Tahlia, who works for Murray Mallee Aged Care and provides in-home support for the elderly said she was fearful for some of her clients in homes set to lose power and will be cut off from care with roads flooded out.

Tahlia said some clients had nowhere to go and others were reluctant to leave their homes believing the water won’t reach their door steps.

However, she is concerned they will be cut off regardless of whether their homes were inundated.

“Even if they stock up with food, if the power goes out, that’s an issue,” she said.

“I provide care for someone and I drive up to their home and I watch the water go up to the road and think soon I won’t be able to get here.

“Some don’t have any family and they don’t have anywhere to go so what are they going to do?”

Tahlia, who was visiting a client on embattled River Lane when she spoke to The Advertiser, said she was worried about being able to access her clients in the area which has been flagged for prolonged power outages and roads to be closed.

Tahlia’s 95-year-old client Cynthia Crowley said she had lived in her Mannum home for 25 years and while she’s seen the water rise and fall, she’s never been in harm’s way before.

Tahlia said she hoped older people and other vulnerable people are able to find alternative living arrangements before it’s too late.

“I don’t know what we are in for, I’m usually a sceptic and think we’ll be okay, but it’s crazy.”

Mid Murray Council Mayor Simone Bailey at the levy being built at Mary Ann reserve in Mannum, on November 23, 2022. Picture: Tom Huntley

Simone Bailey, Mayor

New Mid Murray Mayor Simon Bailey has had a baptism of fire amid the river flooding crisis.

Mayor Bailey was sworn in Monday, and by Tuesday, the council she was faced with ripping up a beloved public park, preparing to close Mannum’s main street to create a flood wall and telling locals it was time to pack up their businesses and get out of their homes.

She said the council expected between 1000 to 1500 residents or businesses across the Mid Murray to be inundated and while the council was doing all it could to protect those in danger, the temporary levees being built – like the one in the Mannum township – could not save them all.

Mayor Bailey – who has lived in Mannum 16 years – said she understood the angst from businesses and locals the banks will not protect.

“There are those that are still anxious and concerned, however many people in Mid Murray thought the council had not thought about what to do. But for a couple of months we’ve had engineers looking at ideas and recommendations and we’ve gone for what we believe is the best option and the only option … it could not be built anywhere else.”

Mayor Bailey said the situation was devastating for the businesses forced to close.

“We’ve just had two years of Covid and they were looking forward to a normal summer … stores have ordered their Christmas gear, the ski shop has ordered all the ski gear.

“They’ve got all this stock arriving and they didn’t realise how big this water event was going to be when this stuff was ordered months and months ago so for them it’s the devastation of another year of losses.”

Mayor Bailey said a major concern was road access with people in remote areas across the 17 town ships of the Mid Murray cut off from essential services.

“The biggest issue is the ferries, what happens when they go out?,” she said.

“I had a call this morning from someone asking how will my kids get to school, what if there is an emergency, what if I need to see a doctor, it’s going to take hours to get to the closest bridges.”

Max Bell at his holiday shack on River Lane in Mannum, on November 23rd, 2022. Picture: Tom Huntley

Max Bell

After more than 12 years of owning his River Lane property at Mannum, Max Bell said it was this year his family decided to have Christmas at the riverfront home.

However, the planned celebrations have been thrown out and the focus is on protecting what he can before the water hits.

Mr Bell said for years the family used the property during the warmer months and when they weren’t there, it was rented out as a holiday home.

“It was booked out for all of January, but that’s all out the window now,” he said.

Mr Bell was busy sandbagging this week and built a makeshift wall ready for the high water.

However he conceded it would not stop the water if it reached the higher end of projections.

“The unknown is, and everyone will tell you the same down here, we don’t really know how much water is coming down here,” he said.

“I’m not confident we can stop the water going in.”

He said he had prepared early, had listened to all advice, but being unable to access the property for a prolonged time was a major worry.

“I’m hearing we might not have access back here for ages which is disappointing,” he said.

“I guess if the water poses a threat, it’s not what the SES want to be doing, saving people in the floodwater so I get that.

“But there is going to be a second wave coming in January and if we don’t get it right with the first peak flows, we are going to be in trouble.”