Flash flooding across Adelaide as heavy rains hit state

SEE THE VIDEOS: The SES has issued flood warnings for the lower Onkaparinga River region, saying water levels have not peaked. The agency is concerned for the residents of Old and Port Noarlunga. NEW IMAGES, FLOOD UPDATES, INCIDENTS AND WARNINGS

THE heavy rains that caused widespread flooding across Adelaide and the Hills on Wednesday have moved east, but showers will continue overnight and into Thursday.

Further flash-flooding could occur throughout the night and flood warnings are in effect for the Onkaparinga, Angas and Bremer catchments. Water levels are rising in the Lower Onkaparinga River, posing a threat to Port Noarlunga and Old Noarlunga. Several major roads in Adelaide’s south are flooded and closed to traffic, including Cross Rd, Goodwood Rd and Anzac Hwy. A landslide impacted the side of a house on Weemala Drive, Mitcham. A Toorak Gardens couple evacuated their home at about 8pm when water up to a metre deep inundated their yard. Meanwhile, roads in the Adelaide Hills have been closed as rivers and creeks overflow after heavy rain fell overnight. The spring storm turned the Adelaide Hills into a giant waterfall as more than 100mm of rain was dumped in parts, cutting off towns, flooding properties and leaving a massive clean up. Riverbanks and sandbags were no match for the unrelenting downpour, which dumped 111mm at Ashton in the 24 hours to 6pm yesterday and 90mm at Mount Lofty between 3pm on Tuesday and 6pm yesterday. Several rivers broke their banks and roads were turned into creeks, leading to about 600 calls to emergency services for help and leaving hundreds of residents with soggy homes to mop up. Incredible amount of water flowing through Torrens Weir Dozens of properties were flooded across the Adelaide Hills and Fleurieu Peninsula, while many homes in suburbs at the base of the hills, including Torrens Park and Waterfall Gully, were inundated by cascading waters. Rapid Bay on the Fleurieu Peninsula was completely surrounded by water, with the road and bridge to the school flooded. All children and teachers were safely evacuated. Rising rivers cut access roads to some towns, including Rapid Bay on the Fleurieu Peninsula where 32 students and six teachers became stranded at the primary school yesterday afternoon. Police and Country Fire Service and State Emergency Service volunteers safely evacuated all the stranded teachers and students by about 6.30pm. A police spokesman said there was no danger of the school flooding and those stranded were not under threat. Flood watch-and-act messages were in place for several waterways last night, including Brown Hill Creek which had burst its banks in multiple places and flooded several properties. Torrens Park resident Carolyn Schmidt repeatedly said, “Oh my God’’, as she watched water flood into her Fife Ave backyard from Brown Hill Creek. “This happened 11 years ago just before my 40th birthday,’’ she said as the house lost power. “The water has already gone through the shed, which has a lot of equipment.’’ Just down the road, Bruce the puppy was rescued by SES volunteers from the kitchen of an otherwise vacant house as floodwaters rushed in about 4.30pm. Heavy winds also brought trees and powerlines down over homes and roads. Andrew and Rebecca Perry of Crafers were getting their children – aged five and seven – ready for school when a tree came crashing down on their house about 9.15am. Flooding in Hahndorf “It was a weird sound,” Mrs Perry said. “It was like a crack and then a crash. We thought it may have been that tree that had come down as we’ve had concerns about it in the past. It’s our neighbour’s tree.” She said the tree had come down on the corner of the house damage to the roof had left it leaking. “Luckily no one was injured,” she said. Luke Harding of Encounter Bay woke to find his street, Hope St, almost submerged – and turned into a shallow river as water covered the road. “The whole street flooded and came up to the edge of the driveway,” he said. “I haven’t seen anything like it.” But luckily, he said, no homes on the street were flooded. The State Emergency Service urged all people to stay well clear of floodwaters. A soggy koala photographed by Crafers resident Russell Latter summed up the situation in the soaked Adelaide Hills. Mr Latter spotted the furry marsupial as it perched itself on top of a fence post on Old Carey Gully Rd at Stirling about 3pm. He said he first saw the koala as it was sitting on the side of the flooded road, trying to find a way across. “He was very confused because he couldn’t find a way across (the road),” he said. “So I walked behind him to shuffle him along and he saw a fence post and he was quite excited by that and he climbed up on it. “He then looked around at me as if to say, ‘Thanks for that, now find me a gum tree’.” Mr Latter said the koala clung to the post for about a minute, then saw a desired gum tree and headed towards it, clambering to the top where it was safe. Meanwhile, insurance agencies are bracing for a wave of claims in the wake of the deluge. RAA Insurance senior claims manager Hayley Cain said: “We had a wave of storm activity in June and July with four separate major events and almost constant rain and wind in between the bigger storms. “Damage was in excess of $4 million with the majority caused by tree and branch damage to homes, property and vehicles, with some flood damage as well. “The storms last week and (yesterday) appear to have caused less damage but it is too early to assess the full impact as people are still dealing with the conditions and we would expect claims to continue coming in over the next few days.” Weather bureau senior forecaster Matt Collopy said showers were expected to continue into today and clear this afternoon. “The rainfall rate will settle down, easing concerns of flooding,” he said. FLASH-FLOODING AROUND ADELAIDE Some showers are expected again on Saturday but Mr Collopy said the bureau was monitoring another system that threatened to bring heavy rain on Tuesday, adding: “When the ground is already wet further rain is cause for concern.” Send your wild weather photos to [e-mail]

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