Echuca, Kerang anxiously await for floodwaters to peak
More wild weather is on the way for the weekend, while residents in Echuca and other Murray River towns are being told to “take action now”.
Victoria
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Melbourne and parts of southwest Victoria could be hit by flash flooding over the next 24 hours, with river rises also feared next week for already-battered communities.
Speaking at Friday’s update on the flood concerns, Michael Efron from the Bureau of Meteorology warned the focus for the next day would be on storm activity.
“In the last hour, we’ve already seen some thunderstorm development down across the southwest of the state,” he said.
“We’re actually going to see that becoming more extensive as we head into the latter part of this afternoon and evening.
Mr Efron there was less danger of heavy winds, but the storms were likely to stay still and dump water once they developed.
“Heavy rainfall leading to flash flooding … is our main concern,” he said.
“With the activity today we could see 20mm to 30mm falling in just a couple of hours. Some of those storms could actually produce totals in excess of 50mm by late tonight.
“Really the focus of those activities is through parts of southwestern interior and then pushing potentially into the Melbourne area as well through the latter part of this afternoon.”
Storms would move east on Saturday before redeveloping over North Western Victoria by Saturday afternoon.
Victorians are being urged not to drive into flood waters and strain emergency services resources unnecessarily.
But in worrying news for flood affected areas north of Melbourne, Mr Efron warned widespread rainfall would come from New South Wales by the start of next week.
“We won’t see totals as large as what we saw last week, still around the 20mm to 40mm mark,” he said.
“Given how wet those catchments are at the moment that could cause river rises in those catchments that we’re seeing flooding in at the moment.
“Keep a watch on our website for the latest warning information.
“We’re going to see these conditions continuing at least I think for the next four to six weeks.”
When asked if communities could be asked to evacuate again, SES operations officer Tim Wiebusch urged people to stay alert.
“We’re hopeful that that won’t become the situation but again, until we see where the rain falls, and whether it’s consistently over those three days on the same catchment (we will not know)” he said.
“We could see scenarios where we move to Watch and Act, which is the warning level that we ask people to really take notice of, monitor their conditions, be prepared to act, start lifting things to higher locations in their home and again, be alert to your conditions.
“There’s every chance we may need to go to a higher level … In the event that we see rainfall that perhaps exceeds the current forecast.”
Mr Wiebusch said an emergency evacuation warning remained along the Murray River for communities stretching from Barham, lower Moira and into Echuca.
“We’ve said numerous times this is the most serious warning that we can issue and we are asking people to take action now,” he said.
“At this stage, the Bureau’s forecasting that Murray River will breach the major flood level of 94.8m on Saturday.”
The Murray is now expected to peak overnight Sunday into Monday but will remain at a high level for many days.
Waters will then flow down to Torrumbarry and also to areas near Cohuna and all the way through to Swan Hill.
Over this time, water is expected to peak around the levels seen during floods in October 1993.
Flood peaks are also expected to hit Swan Hill by the end of the month and this flow to Robinvale and Mildura by the middle of November
“We’ve still got quite a way to go for those communities on the Murray River,” Mr Wiebusch said.
The Loddon River at Kerang is expected to peak Friday afternoon and the town could be isolated for at least a week.
The Campaspe River is currently at minor flood levels at Rochester, but this could rise to moderate by Monday, and at moderate levels at Echuca.
It comes as the Andrews Government announced a $70m health and education recovery fund to help schools and services remain operational after the floods.
These will provide small grants for urgent works, including money to replace generators, water pumps and to set up marquees.
Students in Rochester will also receive a laptop and USB dongle to stay up to date with school.
Attorney-General Jaclyn Symes said the state had received more than 22,000 applications for emergency payments and 8000 had been processed by Friday morning.
But she warned the threat of the floods was not over.
“We know that there is more rain forecast in the coming days,” Ms Symes said.
“And again the strong message remains, please pay attention to the information that is being provided.”
Anxious wait in Echuca and Moama
Residents on the eastern side of Echuca have woken to flooding in their streets.
Water began to pool on driveways and in front and backyards on Friday as the Murray River continued to slowly rise, flooding into streets not protected by a giant man-made levee.
It comes as the border towns of Echuca and neighbouring Moama anxiously wait for the flood peak, which the Bureau of Meteorology forecasts will take place on Sunday into Monday.
It expects the river level will reach about 95m AHD at Echuca Wharf — similar to what occurred in 1993.
Shepp’s clean-up continues
A burst of heavy showers fell in Shepparton on Friday afternoon as the Goulburn Valley braces for more wet weather, which could top up floodwaters which have decimated the area.
The Bureau of Meteorology is predicting up to 15mm of rain in Shepparton on Saturday and Sunday, along with thunderstorms, before an expected 20mm-30mm of rain on Monday.
Despite the forecast, Greater Shepparton mayor Shane Sali said based on advice from Shepparton’s incident control centre, the rain shouldn’t lead to a renewed flooding risk across Shepparton and nearby towns.
“We understand there’s rain coming, but the expectation is it should just hold to current river levels, and not increase to a flood situation that we’ve had over the course of last weekend,” Cr Sali said.
“You’ve got to be cautious, especially in those low lying areas, but the situation should hold to the current river level, and as each day goes by, and when it doesn’t rain, the river continues to recede.”
Cr Sali said despite the wet weather, the clean-up efforts in Shepparton and nearby Mooroopna would be in full swing.
The two towns have been reconnected after its main road link, the Peter Ross-Edwards Causeway, re-opened about lunchtime on Thursday after it was closed since Saturday evening due to the surging waters from the Goulburn River.
Mooroopna’s Football and Netball clubs are joining forces for a major recovery blitz assisting flood-affected locals on Saturday.
Fears over possible contamination nightmare
Two hundred hospital staff and 20 pharmacists will be deployed to flood-affected areas for three months in a bid to relieve exhausted local healthcare workers.
An environment health and field workforce will also tour flooded regions to provide information to communities on waste disposal and advice on how to repair septic tanks.
The $6.5m funding package comes as concerns grow that flooded sewers may contaminate floodwaters and clean drinking water sources, prompting fears that mould building in properties could lead to serious respiratory issues.
Mosquito invasions are also threatening impacted communities, with a dedicated monitoring and control system launched to prevent the insects being drawn into floodzones.
A free vaccine against the Japanese encephalitis virus will be offered to people in affected communities.
While the recovery process is now underway in many parts of the state, two alleged looters were charged following the burglary of a flood-effected home in Maribyrnong.
It comes as emergency authorities on Thursday again warned the immediate danger threat is “far from over”.
“We’re obviously seeing some communities that are moving into the clean-up and recovery phases, but there are others that are still very much under emergency warnings,” SES operations officer Tim Wiebusch said.
Authorities said Kerang on the Loddon River and a stretch of the Murray River between Barmah and Echuca remained areas of most concern.
The Kerang township will be isolated for seven days – if not longer – after the bridge out of the town closed on Wednesday night.
Mr Wiebusch said Friday and Saturday were set to bring isolated thunderstorms rather than a widespread rainband.
Warnings in Shepparton were downgraded, but a Bureau of Meteorology flood watch meant the Goulburn River could still return to a major flood level.
Mr Wiebusch urged people, other than locals, to steer clear of flood affected regions.
“This is not the time for sightseeing,” he said.
Since the emergency began last week, authorities have received 8000 call-outs – including 730 flood rescues.
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