River Murray to remain high for months, as Renmark Hospital exacuation plan revealed
Experts say the River Murray will remain high well into next year, as the trigger point for evacuating Renmark Hospital looms.
SA News
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The River Murray is likely to pour over the border at a rate of 175GL a day for weeks and is unlikely to drop below 150GL until at least the middle of January, according to the Environment Department.
The Murray is then not likely to drop back below a flow rate of 100GL a day until at least mid-February.
On Thursday, Premier Peter Malinauskas warned Riverland residents to prepare for two peaks, one next week when the rate reaches 175GL, then another in late December when it climbs to 185GL.
It comes as Bookpurnong Rd, the main road linking the busy Riverland towns of Berri and Loxton, was closed to trucks, and cars restricted to one lane, and tourism operators face losing millions.
Environment Department operations officer water delivery Kimberley Williamson on Friday said the river would not drop between the peaks but could “flatten out a bit around 175 GL/day for a short period of time and then begin to increase more rapidly again towards 185 GL/day in late December.’’
Ms Williamson said Friday’s flow rate was around 131GL and it was predicted it would reach 150GL over the coming week.
If it reaches 185GL, that will be the highest flow rate in the Murray since the monster flood of 1956 when it was as high as 341GL a day.
The Department also said there is a “moderate probability’’ the second peak could reach 200GL and a “low probability’’ it could be 220GL.
The Renmark Paringa District Hospital is preparing to evacuate its residents and patients if the flow rate reaches 200GL.
Riverland Mallee Coorong Local Health Network CEO, Wayne Champion said “individual plans are in place for each resident, and where they go depends on their needs and the location of family and friends.”
“Some families plan to take their loved ones home, in which case we would provide community services to support them where possible, and others would be moved to other RMCLHN facilities,’’ he said.
There are 79 aged-care residents at the hospital and usually between six to eight patients. No other hospitals in the Riverland are under flood threat.
Mr Champion said 200GL was the “threshold for pre-emptive relocation of those aged care residents who are most vulnerable in this unexpected circumstance is based on when the water would start to affect our facility in the absence of the levee’’.
The Renmark Paringa Council has calculated the levee would withstand flows of 340GL a day, plus 680mm “freeboard’’ which allows for wind and waves. Mr Champion said while he had a level confidence in the levee, there was still a need for caution.
“We have vulnerable aged-care residents who are mobility impaired in the Renmark Paringa District Hospital’s aged-care facility, who would be difficult to evacuate quickly in the unlikely event of levee failure,’’ he said.
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