SA Police hunting for ‘heartless’ thieves over theft of Mannum sandbag filler

Police are hunting for callous criminals who stole a desperately-needed sandbag filler from the Mannum community – just weeks before peak floodwaters hit.

Police are hunting for “heartless thieves” after a desperately-needed sandbag filler was stolen from a Murraylands town.

Callous crooks nabbed the filler, which is for locals’ use as water levels rise, from the Belvedere Road SES station on Friday.

SA Police say the theft occurred sometime between 8am and 3pm.

SES chief of staff Derren Halleday said the filler was used to support local River Murray residents as they prepared their homes for rising water levels.

“Sadly, it hasn’t been returned yet and the SASES hope that this will be an isolated incident,” he said.

Anyone with information about the theft, or who may know the whereabouts of the filler, is urged to call contact police on 1800 333 000 or www.crimestopperssa.com.au.

A sandbag filler has been stolen from a Mannum SES filling station. Picture: SA Police

Max Bell with sandbags at his holiday shack in Mannum. Picture: Tom Huntley

The sandbag filler is a critical tool in the race against time before floodwaters peak in early December, allowing residents to fill sandbags to protect their homes and businesses.

New modelling predicts a second flood peak of at least 185GL will hit River Murray communities at Christmas time, with a moderate chance of 200GL flows and an outside chance of the river hitting 220GL.

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

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

Premier Malinauskas and SES’s Chris Beattie with sandbags. Picture: NCA NewsWire

“Approximately 200GL of water is consumed every year across the state of SA … we now face the prospect of that coming across the border every single day in the River Murray,” Mr Malinauskas said.

“We’re preparing for the worst but hoping for the best, but today is a good day when it comes to those forecasts.”

In preparation for the deluge, four kilometres of DefenCell flood barriers arriving in Adelaide from Italy on Thursday, with 400,000 extra sandbags set to arrive in coming days.

The DefenCell system, which is used by the US Army, allows a barrier to be erected around vital infrastructure before being quickly filled using a bobcat or excavator.