PM pledges aid as Shepparton remains on alert for floodwaters

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has announced federal support for flood-affected Victorians after the wettest start to a year on record.

He said the support would be in the form of emergency and hardship payments made to individuals and families, and assistance for local councils.

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese (second from left) and Acting Premier Ben Carroll (far right) visited the Victorian State Control Centre in Melbourne for a briefing on the floods on January 10.Credit: Nine

“We’ve signed off on a commitment to provide further support to Victorians as a result of this flood event that continues to unfold,” Albanese said at the State Emergency Centre on Wednesday afternoon.

“This is a really difficult time. It will be traumatic for people in places like Rochester, who just a couple of years ago went through another severe weather event. So, we stand with Victorians.”

He said the federal government would be “providing whatever support is requested to make sure that people aren’t left behind”.

Acting Victorian Premier Ben Carroll said it wasn’t Albanese’s first visit to the emergency centre. He said the state was doing everything it could to support those impacted and welcomed the federal government’s funding announcement.

“We do know that it is unprecedented to have these weather events so close together here in Victoria,” Carroll said.

Watch and act alerts were in place on Thursday morning for the Goulburn River from Seymour to Shepparton, as well as Bendigo and Bullock Creeks downstream of Minto.

The river at Murchison peaked at about 10.5m on Wednesday and is slated to fall below the minor flooding level of 9m on Friday, authorities said.

The Goulburn River at McCoys Bridge was expected to exceed the minor flood level on Thursday afternoon before moderate flooding at the bridge and Shepparton from about Friday morning.

Crews have doorknocked about 300 homes from Kialla to Shepparton with fewer than a dozen properties expected to be inundated, Victoria SES chief officer Tim Wiebusch said on Wednesday afternoon.

“But there will be extensive flooding in some of the streets, so please be alert to that,” he told reporters.

The Goulburn River is expected to escape any significant rainfall over the coming days but storms with the potential of heavy rainfalls are brewing in the east and north.

Rochester residents can return to assess any damage to their properties with the flood threat reduced in that area.

Residents who meet the criteria for hardship assistance will receive a one-off payment of $640 per adult and $320 per child, up to a maximum of $2240 per family.

Bureau of Meteorology forecaster Bri Macpherson said the first nine days of January had set the record for the wettest start to the year in Victoria since records began around 1900.

“If we had no further rainfall for the rest of January, this month would still be within the top 20 wettest Januaries that we have on record,” Macpherson said. “So [it’s] quite a significant event.”

Wiebusch said farms had been inundated and roads closed around Pyramid Hill and Kow Swamp.

He said the worst-hit towns were Seymour and Yea, which were placed under evacuation alerts earlier this week. Six properties in Yea (population 2000) suffered above-floor flooding, while 17 homes were inundated.

In Seymour, seven businesses suffered above-floor flooding, while 11 homes were inundated.

Closer to Melbourne, a landslide alert was issued on Tuesday morning near the Mount Dandenong Tourist Road in Ferny Creek. The landslip – reported to be about 40 metres wide, 70 metres long and four metres deep – impacted properties and felled trees. The road has been closed and a minor natural gas leak is being monitored.

And despite the warmer weather, the Environment Protection Authority designated several beaches in Port Phillip Bay – including Carrum, Mentone, St Kilda, South Melbourne, Port Melbourne, Sandridge and Werribee – as having “poor” swimming conditions due to recent rain and likely stormwater pollution.

Port Phillip Bay on Wednesday, after recent rains across the state. Credit: Jason South

Major flooding in Victorian towns twice in two years means residents will almost certainly face significant rises in insurance premiums, raising fears some people may be forced to move from uninsurable homes.

Moist atmospheric conditions caused authorities to warn about storms and record-breaking rainfall leading to flooding on the weekend.

The eventual downpour broke a 90-year-old daily record in Bendigo, with 92 millimetres of falling in the 24 hours to 9am on Monday. Around the Heathcote region, at least 184 millimetres of rain fell in 24 hours, representing about three months’ worth of rain in a day.

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