SA storms: Wild weather eases, but more to come
IT will be a night of wild wind and rain, according to the Bureau of Meteorology, with hazardous road conditions into Tuesday. But flooding around the Gawler River is stabilising.
- Recap how the floods unfolded during the weekend
- More rain comes even as mop-up begins
- Recovery days away as more rain hits
IT will be a night of wild wind and rain, according to the Bureau of Meteorology, with hazardous road conditions into Tuesday. But flooding around the Gawler River is stabilising.
Damaging winds are forecast to hit the state overnight, bringing possible thunderstorms and gusts up to 90km/h.
As well, there are warnings of hazardous road conditions into Tuesday with reduced visibility in heavy showers, slippery conditions and some localised flooding over roads.
The Bureau of Meteorology has issued a severe weather warning for the Adelaide metro area, Mount Lofty Ranges, Lower Eyre Peninsula, Yorke Peninsula, Kangaroo Island, Mid North, Murraylands, Upper South East, Lower South East and parts of the Eastern Eyre Peninsula and Riverland districts.
Locations that may be affected include Adelaide, Port Lincoln, Mount Gambier, Murray Bridge, Kingscote and Naracoorte.
A vigorous westerly airstream was expected to intensify as an embedded front moves across the south of the state.
Westerly winds averaging 60-70 km/h with damaging wind gusts in excess of 90km/h, particularly with squally showers and thunderstorms, are possible in the warning area overnight. Winds will gradually ease later on Tuesday morning.
The latest State Emergency Service flood advice warns of:
AN elevated risk of flooding in the Torrens River;
AN elevated risk of flooding in the Upper and Middle Onkaparinga River, threatening the safety of people in Verdun, Lobethal, Oakbank and Woodside and Hahndorf
AND stabilising of flood waters in the Gawler River. Although flood waters are no longer rising, significant amounts of water are still present and threaten people’s safety.
The SES is urging people to follow their emergency flood plans.
The Onkaparinga River earlier burst its banks at Verdun. The Hahndorf freeway exit has been reopened.
Access to Gawler township is limited as a number of roads are closed.
Community members have joined Country Fire Service volunteers in Adelaide’s north, meanwhile, to fill sandbags ahead of predicted flooding.
An influx of willing people lent a helping hand in Dalkeith on Sunday night after a call for help was circulated on Facebook.
Dalkeith Brigade lieutenant one Michael Mutch said crews were joined by about 25 community members who also volunteered their help on Sunday night.
“We probably had about 50 people here in the end,” he said.
“A good half were people from the community who came down because they saw a post on social media.
“Someone put the call out on Facebook and before you know it there were cars coming left, right and centre ... everyone just wanted to help.”
He said the community members worked for about four hours from 7.30pm and together with CFS crews filled about 1000 sandbags.
“It was really good to see so many people here helping out.”
The SES has supplied more than 269,000 sandbags since the heavy rains began again, with 20,000 on the way from the eastern states and 25,000 coming from WA. About 6000 are headed towards Two Wells.
A dozen CFS volunteers were out in force with shovels again from 7am on Monday.
Mr Mutch said CFS crews would continue to stockpile sandbags ahead of wild weather today, and likely continue filling the hessian sacks until Thursday.
Bridgewater man Ian Dyson, 63, is facing a big clean-up over the next few days after a large tree fell on his home, crushing his garage and workstation, about 5.30am on Monday.
“I had been up since 4.30am this morning and about an hour later, I just heard this big roar outside,” he said.
He said that moments later, a tree crushed part of his home.
Luckily, he was at the other end of the house when the tree came down, he said.
“It’s pretty unstable at the moment. What is on the roof is still on the roof because it was just too dangerous for the SES to stabilise it,” he said.
“The ground is just so saturated, there’s just pure run off now.
“It’s a mess, the Hills are a mess.”
At Birdwood, Leanne Hogan, 40, and her family have seen their home flood for the third time in five days, after heavy rain broke the banks of the Blumberg Creek.
“We bought the house knowing it was in a flood zone, but we didn’t expect this much rain,” she said.
“Everyone has been telling us how unusual this amount of rain is, it's a bit of a shame.”
The family had planned a joint celebration tonight after Mrs Hogan finished her teaching degree and her mother had a birthday last week, but the family will instead spend the day cleaning mud and water from their Oakdale Rd home, which is surrounded by water more than 30cm deep.
“We’ve got everything up high, so it’s just the floor really,” she said.
“I don’t think we are going to lose a lot.”
She hoped her insurance would cover the cost of the damage, which includes ruined, waterlogged carpet and lino covered by about an inch of water which had seeped through sandbags into the home.
Mrs Hogan remained in high spirits despite the damage.
“We’ve gotten to know all our neighbours,” she said.
“There’s not much we can do about it but wait and call our insurance.”
Neighbour Jake Schutz, 22, said the creek had flooded a handful of times in the past five years, causing floodwaters to surround his father’s home, but luckily had not entered the home.
“Our house was built up two and a half feet from the ground because they knew it was subject to flooding,” he said.
“It’ll flow over the road and down the other side before it gets into the house, luckily.”
Heavy rain has been falling in Adelaide and on the sodden Hills this morning, raising fears of further flooding as streams swell again.
But authorities say that despite some rain in the Mid North, and a moderate flood warning, they are hopeful the Gawler River, which was hardest hit late last week, will not “exceed its channels”.
The SES issued a watch and act message on Sunday night for rising flood waters for parts of Virginia, Buckland Park and Port Gawler.
Other areas that may be affected are Gawler River, Two Wells and Lewiston.
Meanwhile, the threat of flooding in the Wakefield River and Port Wakefield area has reduced, the SES says.
River levels are dropping, but remain higher than normal.
In some good news, Port Wakefield Rd, between Two Wells and the Northern Expressway, has reopened to all traffic but motorists are urged to remain cautious when travelling in the area.
The Planning, Transport and Infrastructure Department says low levels of water remain on the road in some parts and speed restrictions are in place.
This was the last section to be reopened on the highway.
Light rain hit the metropolitan area between 4pm and 4.30pm on Sunday with the Bureau of Meteorology predicting it would continue through Monday and into Tuesday.
A spokesman said the heaviest falls were expected throughout the Hills, likely 40mm to 80mm but it could reach up to 100mm.
“There’s a moderate flood warning for the Gawler River catchment. Any further rainfall will see some reflection of that in river heights,” the spokesman said.
He said it would be “quite breezy” with “fresh winds” between 30km/h and 50km/h but nothing like the powerful gusts experienced last week.
State Emergency Services chief officer Chris Beattie said there was still flooding throughout SA but as of Sunday afternoon it had begun to subside.
“We are expecting another couple of days of showery events,” he said.
“We are anticipating anywhere up to 100mm in the Adelaide Hills. This will no doubt see quick rises in streams and catchments as the ground is already saturated.
“We will also see some falls in the Mid North for the Gawler catchment that may ultimately see the river start to rise again but we are confident it won’t exceed its channels.”
Mr Beattie said the level of rain expected in the next 48 hours coupled with the saturated ground meant it was important for communities in risk areas to start to prepare their properties.
“For those that have done so already it’s a good time to check your sandbags and your flood plan but for those who haven’t we have quite a number of depots around the state where sandbags are being distributed,” he said.
Emergency Services Minister Peter Malinauskas said the Government was asking South Australians to remain vigilant.
“In light of the fact that the ground is incredibly wet, significant rain events do present a risk regarding flooding, particularly around the Gawler River and the Onkaparinga catchment,” he said.
“We are keeping a close eye on events around the Mt Lofty Ranges.”
After a cool day on Monday, with an expected maximum of 16C, temperatures are forecast to rise, reaching 27C on both Thursday and Friday.
Power was back on for all of SA Power Network’s residential customers following repairs to damage on the Eyre Peninsula transmission line near Tumby Bay on Sunday.
Some large industrial customers, however, remain without full power supplies.
Repair work was yet to begin on the damage in the Mid North which was a key cause of the statewide power outage on Wednesday so any further high wind or lightning in this area would bring further risk of blackouts.
ElectraNet Network Services executive manager Simon Emms said the company hoped to have one of the damaged circuits back up and energised by the end of the week.
“Power supply from the Mid North of the state, around to Port Augusta, and down the Eyre Peninsula, is currently relying on the one undamaged circuit,” he said.
Bill Shorten tours SA, calls for flood mitigation works
Visiting South Australia today, Opposition leader Bill Shorten said that “it’s a great privilege to see what Australians do under pressure, which is pull together, focus on helping each other”.
“My message to the volunteers and indeed the full time staff in SA is: ‘you’re doing a great job, you’re modest about it, but I have to say you make us all a little bit more proud to be Australian’.”
Mr Shorten said Australia was long overdue for a debate about flood mitigation.
“We spend a lot of money cleaning up. And of course there’s a cost to farms, businesses and householders with increased costs of insurance and repair,” he said.
“I believe in spending more in flood mitigation beforehand, literally pays for itself after a storm event.”
He said dam work completed in SA in 2005 after similar flooding had helped minimise further damage in the current storm.
“I’m a fan of mitigation because I think it actually saves damage, it can potentially save lives and certainly saves taxpayer costs in clean-up,” he said.
He said a discussion was also needed about how to improve the national energy market, and said he was disappointed Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull had blamed renewable energy for SA’s blackout.
“The Federal Government needs to straighten themselves out here,” he said.
“I’m disappointed in Malcolm Turnbulll seeking to politicise a one-in-50-year storm. A storm where cyclonic winds were experienced in parts of SA. A storm so powerful it could turn steel transmission towers into mechano sets to be bent over, 80,000 lightning strikes.
“Labor is up for a discussion about a national energy market, but do it at the right time. It’s rule 101 of a natural disaster,— politicians should not play politics.
“Playing politics and trying to blame renewable energy for the storm and the damage it caused by Malcolm Turnbull — to me was exactly the lack of leadership and Australians don’t expect that from their leaders.”
