Moorook rallies to save Laurie and Jan Roos’s home from Murray floodwaters
A Riverland community is in the midst of a mammoth effort to save an eldery couple’s home, after rallying to their side when all hope seemed lost.
SA News
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A mammoth effort is underway to save an elderly couple’s century-old home in the Riverland that is now completely surrounded by floodwaters.
Laurie, 69, and Jan Roos, 70, have been ordered by the State Emergency Service (SES) to evacuate their 100-year-old home on an isolated property at Moorook, after the levies protecting it started to fail.
The pair had conceded that their home could no longer be saved in a post to social media on Tuesday night.
But hope has since been restored after the post prompted a huge response from the local community.
Laurie’s son Scott Bown said about 20 residents provided assistance as they worked through the night to pump water from the property.
“We’ve actually had no sleep, we’ve been flat out the whole time,” Mr Bown said.
“Because it’s such an old house, it doesn’t have the foundations … so we’re just trying to keep it as dry as we can.”
Mr Bown said the family had been overwhelmed by the outpouring of support from the community.
“A special shoutout has to go to the Moorook General Store. They gave everyone who was helping a free lunch,” he said.
“Anyone who has sandbags, please feel free to drop them off. We have some long days and sleepless nights ahead and it’s stinking hot, so any help is appreciated.”
He said ultimately the house was going to get wet, but he hoped it would remain standing.
“The water has risen quite a bit and because the water level is so high now, it’s seeping up through the ground inside the levee,” he said.
“We’re just not sure what is going to happen because obviously the water still hasn’t peaked here yet.”
The peak is expected to reach nearby Loxton around New Year’s Eve with the SES now confident the river had peaked at the Victorian border.
SASES chief executive Chris Beattie said data shows the flow rate at the border had declined for three consecutive days.
“We’re confident that this indicates that the peak has passed and our data downstream suggests that the peak is currently at the Renmark level,” he said.
He said volunteers and engineers would continue to monitor levees right across South Australia.
“These are underload, they are stressed and they continue to see minor defects and issues,” he said.
“So that’s why it’s important that we have active monitoring.”
It comes as the state government offered further financial support to businesses, farm enterprises and not-for-profit organisations in flood regions to help them continue to trade through the crisis.
Premier Peter Malinauskas said businesses with fewer than 30 employees will be able to apply for a $10,000 grant if they can demonstrate a 30 per cent downturn in revenue.
“While we’ve already provided support to dozens of businesses forced to close their doors, there are many more continuing to trade, keeping people in jobs,” Mr Malinauskas said.
“These grants will help those businesses, farm enterprises and not-for-profit organisations keep trading and continue supplying goods and services to their local communities.”
Authorities have also ramped up their patrols throughout the Riverland and Murraylands region to assist with the co-ordinated flood efforts and monitor vulnerable properties.
Mr Malinasuakas says criminals caught thieving from properties during the height of the flood emergency along the River Murray can expect to feel the full weight of the law.
It comes as residents in Blanchetown raised concerns on social media about the prospect of thieves in the area.
However, Mr Malinauskas said there had been no major reports of a “systematic looting effort”.
“SAPOL have beefed up their operations in particular areas that they have turned their minds to, around specific vulnerabilities. Thus far, there hasn’t been major reports that have been substantiated of a systematic looting effort,” he said.
“Looting is one of those crimes, so reprehensible, it sort of makes you angry, and we stand ready to do anything we can as a government, to ensure that people who partake in this type of activity feel the full consequences of their actions.”
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