Premier Peter Malinauskas gives Riverland update on how many permanent homes will be flooded

More than 1000 primary residences could be inundated by River Murray floodwaters if flows hit 250GL per day, the SA Government revealed today. Watch the update.

Premier Peter Malinauskas says updated flood mapping suggests more than 1000 homes could be inundated with water if flows hit 250GL per day.

New data shows the number of primary residences predicted to go under when the first and second water peaks hit during December.

Mr Malinauskas says 1086 homes would be impacted if waters hit a peak of 250GL/day and 455 residences if flows hit 200GL/day.

In a major operation coordinated by the state’s police commissioner, residents will be contacted ahead of next week’s first peak and informed of their planning and evacuation options.

“Our priority is to get in touch with those 455 residences that the flood mapping tells us (will be) inundated with water,” he said.

“Most people whose homes are going to be inundated have already undertaken their own planning, we’ve all seen that first hand.

“But we are concerned about those who haven’t taken the appropriate preparations and are ignorant to the water that is coming their way.”

A total of between 3500 and 4000 homes and businesses in total are expected to be inundated when flood waters hit.

Police Commissioner Grant Stevens said residents would be assisted in evacuating their premises and accessing alternative accommodation where required.

Comm Stevens said police had just five days to prepare residents before water flows hit the border, with officers deployed from across SA Police to assist with contacting residents.

“We are setting a goal by the end of the week of having visited those (455 primary residences),” Comm Stevens said.

“There is no way of avoiding the fact that some people’s homes will be inundated with water, what we need to do is make sure they have a plan in place for alternative accommodation.”

The premier is visiting Riverland towns this week as the region’s flood preparations continue.

Residents are now able to access emergency funding as the region’s first emergency relief centre opens its doors.

The dedicated relief centre will help residents access accommodation assistance, financial help, Foodbank, community service organisations and the Red Cross ahead of December’s major flooding event.

The centre will be open from 9am to 5pm, seven days a week from Tuesday, November 29, at the Berri Senior Citizens Club on Crawford Tce.

Business owners in flood-affected areas are now eligible to access early closure grants of up to $20,000 and generator purchase grants of up to $4000.

Other grants, including one-off personal hardship grants of up to $400 for individuals and $1000 for families are also now available.

Disaster funding is available to residents of nine LGAs – Alexandrina, Berri Barmera, Coorong District, Karoonda East Murray, Loxton Waikerie, Mid Murray, Murray Bridge, Renmark Paringa and the Pastoral Unincorporated Area.

The financial assistance forms part of the state government’s pledged $51.6m disaster relief package, which has also promised tourism industry support once floodwaters recede.

Premier Peter Malinauskas in the Riverland. Picture: Emma Brasier

As floodwaters rise, Murray Mallee Superintendent Scott Denny has urged residents not to hoard sandbag supplies after several tonnes of sand was taken from a Mannum filling station using heavy machinery.

Supt Denny said the act was “inappropriate” and could leave others in desperate need.

“Please use common sense and over the coming weeks we certainly will be patrolling those areas to ensure people are sharing responsibly and not helping themselves to things that aren‘t usually there,” he told the ABC.

MANNUM: The Pretoria Hotel is constructing it’s own levee bank to protect the foundations of the hotel and continue trading through what is usually its busiest time of year. @7NewsAdelaidepic.twitter.com/iUtu0ZDgkI

— Kimberley Pratt (@KimberleyPratt_) November 28, 2022

Police are still hunting for callous crooks who nabbed a sandbag filler from the same Mannum station a week earlier.

SA Police say the theft occurred at the Belvedere Road SES station on Belvedere Road SES station sometime between 8am and 3pm on Friday, November 11.

There are no leads as yet to the filler’s whereabouts.

Last week, Mr Malinauskas revealed new modelling predicted a second flood peak of at least 185GL would hit River Murray communities at Christmas time, with a moderate chance of 200GL flows and an outside chance of the river hitting 220GL.

Mr Malinauskas said confidence in the 175GL-a-day figure had “gone up substantially” with a low probability floodwaters would peak at 200GL/day in early December.

But he said the government now had a “firm eye” on the second peak in late December.

New pictures: Rising River Murray at Mannum, Loxton

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