Echuca braces for Murray River peak, levee holds strong
Experts say the Murray River at Echuca has likely peaked, as Victoria heads towards its wettest October on record.
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Heavy overnight rainfall drenched Echuca, but the town’s flood levee is holding strong.
About 15-20mm of rain fell on Echuca overnight, with emergency services workers pumping water from the town’s “dry” side back into floodwaters behind the levee.
The Murray River remains at a height of 94.9m at the Port of Echuca, and SES chief Tim Wiebusch said flood waters in Echuca may have already peaked.
“We are already seeing major flooding. And this morning we’ve seen it reach a level of 94.9 meters, which is what the Bureau has now forecast as the potential peak,” he said.
“We might see a very small rise above that. But again it is intended to stay steady at that level for several days.”
A spokeswoman from Bendigo’s incident control centre — overseeing the Echuca floods — said the town’s makeshift levee appeared to be holding, but authorities were still concerned for more than 500 homes at Echuca Village.
The BoM is forecasting 25-35mm of rain, ongoing rain and a potential thunderstorm in Echuca on Monday, with ongoing rain is also expected in Shepparton.
Shepparton copped 8.4mm of rain from 11.30pm on Sunday, with the Goulburn River steady at a height of 10.5m.
Flood levels in Kerang are a 77.8m and likely to remain steady for several days.
October shaping as wettest on record
Senior BoM Meteorologist Kevin Parkin said Victoria could experience its wettest October on record if heavy rainfalls continue into next week.
“All this rainfall has meant October’s rainfall for Victoria is likely to be one of the 10th wettest on record. And if we do see this (predicted) rainfall come off as we head into Sunday and Monday, it’s likely to be the wettest October on record, particularly for the northern plains of Victoria,” Mr Parkin said.
He said authorities are concerned storms may develop over the next few days, producing localised falls of 30 to 60 millimetres.
“We’re expecting more rain and thunderstorm activity,” Mr Parkin said.
“Local heavy falls will result in flash flooding, overland flash flooding, not just in the river systems,” Mr Parkin warned.
Over the past 24 hours, rainfall of between 10 to 30 millimetres fell across parts of western and northern Victoria, and also in Gippsland.
The highest recorded rainfall occurred in Hillview.
Mr Parkin said Swan Hill could also be hit with major flooding in coming weeks, while minor flooding is predicted in early to mid-November in Mildura.
Major flood warnings are still in play on the Murray River.
Mr Wiebusch has warned that the floods are not yet over.
“Victoria is still very much in a flood emergency at this time,” he said.
“We’re seeing all phases of the emergency uncovering itself here in Victoria, whether that’s a preparation response and through the recovery.”
Mr Wiebusch said many farmers are “doing it tough”, with many attempting to move stock to safety.
“Having flown some parts of the state in recent days, we know our agricultural pastoral lands are inundated in many cases, particularly across the Avoca, Loddon and Campaspe catchments,” he said.
“Our farmers are doing it tough at this time. They’re having to make decisions about where to put the stock.”
- Carly Douglas
Echuca a city of sandbags
Locals have prepared for the worst – laying more than a quarter of a million sandbags and building a giant levee in anticipation of the river’s peak.
Some residents drove through the floodwaters to deliver sandbags to those who have chosen to stay behind.
Sandbags were also lined up along the Campaspe Esplanade to protect houses near the swollen Campaspe River.
“We have just been doing all we can,” East Echuca resident Tom Lee, 24, said.
“If we give up then all the neighbours are going to get wet.
“Everyone is doing their bit to help everyone else, the sense of community has been great over the last week.”
Emergency services visited about 20 homes around Echuca Village on Saturday night after water broke through a levee.
Between 500 to 700 people living on 250 properties in the area were urged to evacuate by authorities and warned they could be isolated for up to 10 days if they ignored the warning.
“You think you’re safe, but you never know,” Echuca resident Frank Cancilla said.
“We’re in the lap of the Gods now and the whole town is shut down.”
ECHUCA: Heartwarming stuff earlier today as locals loaded up sandbags and drove across the flooded Goulburn St to deliver them to others down the road so they could try and protect their homes. #VicFloods@LeaderOnline@theheraldsunpic.twitter.com/9ZuqJf8MYT
— Kiel Egging (@keggs87) October 23, 2022
Deputy incident controller for the Echuca region, Tim Gazzard, said authorities had “moderate to high confidence” the town’s levee would hold up against the swollen and rising floodwaters from the Murray River.
“We have reasonably good confidence that it’s going to hold up,” Mr Gazzard said. “(The locals) have gone to a lot of effort to compact the levee they’ve put in, and it’s been built to a good standard in a short time.”
Reprieve for ‘isolated’ Kerang
In Kerang, there was some “good news” after floodwater peaked on the Loddon River.
However, the state emergency service said Kerang was “still largely isolated” from major transport routes and would remain that way for another five to seven days.
Water also went into about 20 houses after a levee in the southwest corner of the town was breached.
The Murray River at Swan Hill is also predicted to swell, as well as in Wakool Junction, Boundary Bend and Wentworth areas.
Across the state, Vic Emergency has issued a severe weather warning for Mallee, Wimmera and parts of Northern Country.
“Heavy rainfall which may lead to flash flooding is possible in the Mallee and Wimmera districts this morning,” BOM said.
“Heavy falls may also develop locally about the Otway ranges through today.”
More support for flood hit towns
Federal financial support for Victorian flood victims was also extended to four additional municipalities, Gannawarra, Golden Plains, Northern Grampians and Wangaratta.
Eligible adults will receive $1000, while children will receive $400 in assistance as part of the one-off disaster payments.
The support is now available for people in 24 municipalities who have suffered significant losses as a result of the floods, including severely damaged or destroyed homes or serious injuries.
Towns left with sandbag clean-up
The State Control Centre, which oversees the flood response, said almost one million sandbags that had been used to protect properties across the state would have to be safely disposed of.
“We treat all sandbags used in flood management as contaminated, as floodwater can contain waste, chemicals and other contaminants,” a State Control Centre spokesman said.
“Over 950,000 sandbags have been laid across the state in the past seven days in an effort to protect communities threatened by flood waters.”
The mass disposal will be handled at a local level, and will be carried out by municipal councils.
Premier Daniel Andrews said while some schools are reopening today in flood affected areas, it is still an anxious time for residents preparing for further rain.
“There is still more rain forecast particularly in the north of the state. And that means it’s an anxious time for a number of communities that have been flooded already,” he said.
“It’s not expected that they will go higher than the peaks that were recorded during the beginning of this one event, but it is an anxious time.”
Mr Andrews said thousands of feet were on the ground helping with the clean up, rebuilding roads and getting kids back into the classroom.
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