Sandbags available free of charge for residents of saturated Riverland

Residents in SA’s Riverland can pick up sandbags free of charge as flood warnings remain in place across the region.

Residents throughout South Australia’s Riverland can collect sandbags free of charge, with flood warnings still in place throughout the region.

On Tuesday afternoon, the SA State Emergency Service (SASES) issued a public notice for sandbag distribution locations in Berri, Loxton, Murray Bridge, Renmark and Waikerie.

The SASES will also deliver additional supplies to the region today, including 45,000 more sandbags, shovels and water.

Several flood advice warnings remain current along the Light, Gilbert and Wakefield Rivers and for Lower Light.

👉SASES loaded up another truck with supplies destined for the Riverland. 45,000 sandbags, two dozen shovels, pallets of water bottles, sandbag filling machines, are among the items destined for SASES Units across the Riverland today. @midmurray@[e-mail]/6zS2WsZXGz

— SASES (@SA_SES) October 25, 2022

It comes as more than half the Riverland region’s annual rainfall fell in the space of just two hours on Monday, with more heavy rains forecast for SA towards the end of the week.

At least 95.6mm was also recorded at Renmark Airport while localised flooding resulted in some properties and businesses being damaged from inundation.

Heavy rainfall was set to ease throughout the Riverland, Clare Valley and Mid-North over the coming days, but the reprieve was short-lived.

Waikerie and Murray Bridge can expect dry but cloudy days throughout the remainder of the week, with Loxton and Berri still expecting some wet weather moving into the weekend.

Areas in the mid-north won’t get such relief — rain will continue to saturate Lower Light and Stockport through to next week.

Bureau of Meteorology forecaster Jenny Horvat said another low pressure system could also bring significant falls to the mid-north and the Riverland on Sunday.

“It’s not looking like it will be as much as what we’ve had, but it’s a ‘watch this space’ kind of situation,” she said.

Residents of the low-lying community of Lyrup near Renmark and Berri were hit hard by the latest heavy rainfall in the Riverland at the weekend.

At 9pm on Sunday night, local Phillip Crouch and his wife Mary realised they were going to get flooded out after battling to keep water from inside during the day.

Mr Crouch said he knew the rain was coming and thought he had prepared enough but realised it was worse than he thought when water started flooding the house in “every room”.

“We didn’t expect as much as we got and we were pumping it out to keep it away but then everything came in from behind (the house) and our pumps couldn’t keep up with it,” Mr Crouch said.

Phillip and Mary Crouch walk through water in and around their home at Lyrup, after it was flooded. Picture: Dean Martin

SES volunteer Nick Askew pumps water from Mr Crouch’s home. Picture: Dean Martin

“We sandbagged the doors but it still got through the sandbags and it was coming in from the blocks next door.

“The carpets are soaked, the vinyls are soaked, the kitchen cupboards are damaged, all the electrical stuff has been taken off and put on the steps.

“All the lounges and everything has been taken off the floor so hopefully we’ve saved the furniture.”

Now the couple is staying in their caravan in the backyard until they can clean up and fix the damage, he said.

The couple soak up water that inundated their home. Picture: Dean Martin

“At the moment we’re living in the caravan out the back as I managed to get the caravan out,” he said.

“We had nowhere to go and just got flooded out.

“Now, we’ll drain the water, clean up and start all over again.”

Two kilometres down the road, Mr Crouch’s neighbour, Marg Tschirpig has been living in Lyrup for more than four decades and said she has never seen rain so consistent.

“I have seen rain like this before in the past ten years but the difference this time is that it’s more consistent,” Ms Tschirpig said.

“Pretty much every week we’ve had rain of sorts, nothing like this that’s flooded everywhere so the ground is wet already, but yesterday it pelted down … it was unreal.

“I have got some sandbags and I’m contemplating putting them all the way along the front of my yard.

“Because when it starts, you really can’t do anything, there’s just too much force in the water and it builds up quickly.”

Ms Tschirpig said she asked the local council if they would grade the front area of her property to stop water from running into her house “a couple of months ago”, which never happened, so a friend came and dropped dirt on Sunday night – saving her house from being flooded.

“If I didn’t know John, my friend, who I called yesterday, I don’t know what would’ve happened with the amount of water we had,” she said.

Renmark Mayor Neil Martensen said there was “significant” water damage to vineyards in the area but he was particularly concerned with Renmark hospital, just 100 metres from the river bank.

Flash flooding on Seventeenth St in Renmark on Sunday afternoon. Picture: Liz Beech

Flooded vines at Lyrup, near Berri. Picture Dean Martin

The rising Murray River at Waikerie, already experiencing high water levels. Picture: Dean Martin

“The hospital flood bank is a significant bank,” he said. “It’s about three or four metres high so the flow of 120 odd gigalitres will only scrape the face of that so that’s not a problem.

“The problem is the water that’s going to come up after that from the rainfall and at this stage, we don’t know what that will be.

“We’re looking at building up a stockpile of clay and soil to reinstate and tidy up the flood banks near the hospital.

“But we’re not going to be able to get into those areas now because of the rain water that’s keeping us out of those particular areas.”

The latest modelling of river flows are up to 120 GL a day, being the highest since

1975, when flows reached 160GL a day into South Australia by early December.

Government technical officers are in the Riverland working with council and

landowners to review levee banks and take necessary action to ensure their integrity

before the peak flows arrive.

Water Minister Susan Close said the state government was working with local councils in the Riverland to keep communities better informed.

“We are talking about flow levels not seen in SA for close to 50 years, so it’s important for the community to have all the information and tools readily available to help them prepare,” Dr Close said.