Victorian flood danger over as state starts the clean-up
FLOODS inundated the backyards of Wangaratta homes, but the worst of the deluge is now over. Relief comes as Victoria’s Emergency Commissioner says forecasters shouldn’t have predicted a ‘ten-out-of-ten’ weather event for this weekend.
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FLOODING in Victoria’s northeast has eased and locals have been told they are out of the danger zone after the weekend’s “disastrous” deluge.
Flood warnings were scaled back on Monday, and only minor warnings remained for a handful of towns.
Weather bureau forecaster Michael Efron said: “There are still some minor warnings in place, but we’re through the worst of it.”
FLOODS PROVE DRAMATIC WARNINGS WERE JUSTIFIED: ANDREWS
OPINION: CUT THE SNARKINESS AND LEAVE BOM ALONE
WHY WE WON’T BELIEVE BUREAU OF METEOROLOGY’S EXTREME WEATHER FORECASTS
Despite criticism of the bureau’s rating the storm a “10 out of 10”, he said the prediction was mostly accurate.
“People thought it wasn’t so bad in Melbourne, but there were record-breaking falls not far from the city,” he said.
It came as Victoria’s Emergency Commissioner says the Bureau of Meteorology shouldn’t have called this weekend a ten-out-of-ten weather event in their predictions.
“I’m not saying the bureau has got it wrong, but ‘ten-out-of-ten’ was overused,” Craig Lapsley told ABC Radio.
“I think that set a bar that was right up there.”
The northeastern corridor recorded the highest daily rainfall on record. Victoria has already eclipsed the seasonal total in December’s first days.
Mount Dandenong and Mitcham, in Melbourne’s east, received 128mm and 116mm respectively.
Johnny McGauran is among many Wangaratta locals grateful the storm didn’t reach the intensity predicted.
The 77-year-old, better known as “Irish Jack”, has lived in the town his whole life and seen his fair share of floods. While last weekend’s rainfall was significant, it didn’t bring the devastation of the past, he said.
“I’ve seen much worse. If it had flooded like we were expecting, we wouldn’t be standing here, we’d be under water.”
State MP Steph Ryan, the Nationals member for Euroa, said several bridges and roads in the electorate had been damaged, and she called on the state government to help fund repairs.
And she said it was vital that tourists returned to help boost the local economy.
“The last thing we need now, after this event, is to have people turn away,” Ms Ryan said.
Light rain is forecast for the rest of the week.
The bureau is expecting the weather to “settle” over the coming days, before a return to warmer summer temperatures next week.
The Ovens River in Wangaratta peaked at 11.75m about 5am on Monday morning, the water height has dropped and is expected to continue falling.
Earlier reports suggested the water level would peak at 12.2m, but with no significant rainfall expected over the next 24 hours, the Bureau of Meteorology said no further flooding is expected.
Ovens River at Wangaratta expected to peak at 12.2m early this arvo. No significant rain in last 24hrs has locals hopeful worst is behind them @theheraldsun #VicFloods pic.twitter.com/uU92MpbngW
— Genevieve Alison (@GenevieveAlison) December 3, 2017
Many parts of the state did receive huge rainfall totals, including Wangaratta.
Local Yvonne Voss now has waterfront views after the river rose during the weekend and swelled into her backyard.
“The water can come up quite high but we’re pretty used to it by now,” Ms Voss said.
The Wangaratta resident has lived in her Templeton St home since 1971 and said she has seen her fair share of flooding.
“It wasn’t as bad as we expected but it’s better to be safe than sorry,” she said.
The town bike track that runs alongside the Ovens River has been closed off with water expected to begin to recede over the next few days.
Next door neighbour Doreen Backas said she had seen kids riding through the flood water.
“It was pretty dangerous as you can’t tell how deep it is in some points,” she said.
“But I suppose people are thinking the worst is over now,” Ms Backas said.
Seventy-three properties were flooded over the weekend in the biggest downpour to hit Victoria in 25 years.
Premier Daniel Andrews visited the affected communities yesterday, and said it was lucky only a few homes had water “above the floorboards” and, despite the ongoing concerns, the worst was over.
“We have had all manner of records in terms of the numbers, of the amount of rainfall that we have experienced over these last few days,” he said.
Water levels at Euroa, where streets were left underwater on Saturday, peaked at 5.1m but began to ease on Sunday.
Emergency services and authorities shot down claims they had overdramatised the looming storm, which had been flagged as a threat to Melbourne’s CBD and surrounding suburbs.
Senior forecaster Scott Williams warned Victorians on Thursday “half the inhabitants of Melbourne have never, ever seen anything like this”.
Asked to rate the storms out of 10, Mr Williams said “it’s going to be pretty close to a 10”.
“It is an event that poses a threat to life.”
Senior bureau forecaster Kevin Parkin said yesterday Victoria had the highest rainfall in 24 hours since 1992 — more than 100mm in some areas.
However, the downpour largely missed urban areas, helping avoid widespread havoc in Melbourne.
Since the start of December, Melbourne has had 71mm of rainfall while Mitcham, about 28 kilometres from the city, recorded 110mm and Ferny Creek in the southeast hit 154mm.
Kinglake, about 1.5 hours from Melbourne, has had 196mm of rain while Mount St Leonard in the Yarra Ranges National Park has had 245mm of rain since December 1 at 6am.
Bureau senior forecaster Chris Godfred said 25C was the average temperature for December with the rest of the outlook hovering in the low 20s.
“The rain will ease off with quite a few showers moving across Melbourne today,” he said.
The SES received more than 2500 calls for help from across the state.
Federal Minister for Justice Michael Keenan and Victorian Minister for Emergency Services James Merlino has announced a disaster assistance package for Victorians affected.
GRANDMA, 93, SAVED FROM HOME
A VICTORIAN grandmother has described being carried from her flooded home by emergency workers during a late-night rescue.
Ruth Greene, 93, told the Herald Sun the damage to her Euroa home was “disastrous” after emergency service workers came to her aid at 2am on Saturday.
“The water came way, way up,” Ms Greene said. “They knocked on my door and said ‘you can’t stay here, the water’s coming in too quick’.”
Ms Greene’s house was among the worst affected of 73 houses flooded and many Victorians in the northeast face a big clean-up.
Matthew and Kelly Willey, also from Euroa, surveyed the damage to their property today after floodwater filled their garage and shed.
“We lost everything that was in there,” Ms Willey said.
“We’ll have to replace our air conditioner, as well as the outside motors (which) were ruined by the water.
“There was enough rain to float the cars and the caravan out front; it was pretty big.”
Elsewhere, despite record-breaking rain and damage to property, regional Victorians showed resilience.
Myrtleford local Brendan Cusack said there was an “air of relief” at the local pub where he worked. “There’s a feeling of relief we escaped it this time. It could’ve been a lot worse,” Mr Cusack said.
Nearby, Steve Mooney, who leases a beef farming property in Everton, said he had sustained some damage but hoped the water would subside quickly. “Some of the water will still be on its way, so we’re just monitoring it as it comes,” Mr Mooney said.
“We’ve only had one other flood this year so far, we’ve been lucky.
“A big worry is the 10,000 brown snakes that come up the river; they’re known to bite animals. You can get caught off guard and then your animals drown and all sorts of other horrible things, so we’re glad to be over-prepared.”
Mr Mooney was also looking after a neighbouring property for friends who were overseas.
“I fixed their fences, moved their cattle to higher ground — it’s just the sort of thing you do for your mates,” he said.
At Wangaratta, Painters Island Caravan Park was evacuated as the threat of floodwater was considered too great.
Another local caravan park owner, Peter Crotty, said the unseasonal downpour was bad for business.
“There are a number of people who have avoided the area altogether because of the weather, however, so we’ve had a massive drop in business because of the flood warnings and the events that have been subsequently cancelled,” Mr Crotty said.
In some streets of Euroa, Myrtleford and Wangaratta locals waded through knee-deep water.
Nina, a beef farmer from Everton, said she woke to substantial water on her 50ha property on Saturday night but told the Herald Sun “flooding is better than fire for us”.
SES Myrtleford assistant chief officer Keith O’Brien said the region had escaped with only minimal damage.
“The community here is frequently affected by floods,” he said.
CUT THE SNARKINESS AND LEAVE BOM ALONE
“We will see more floods and want to work with our community to minimise damage and the risk to life.”
Despite the volume of rain being less than forecast, some Melbourne suburbs also struggled to cope with the deluge.
Emergency Services Commissioner Craig Lapsley said several drivers had “disappointingly” ignored warnings, by entering flood waters and in some cases required assistance.
In Williamstown, a young man was rescued from his car after attempting to cross a swollen creek.
In Abbotsford, kayakers took advantage of surging water to hit the Yarra River at Dights Falls.
INSURANCE CLAIMS FLOW
VICTORIANS assessing damage to their homes from wild weather have begun to contact their insurers, with hundreds of claims lodged over the weekend.
Insurance Council of Australia spokesman Campbell Fuller said more than 200 claims appeared to have been lodged but this figure was surprisingly low.
“That would be the level of claims we’d see for a relatively small summer storm,” he said.
“Insurers may see more claims in coming days as people assess the damage, particularly from those in the flooded northeastern parts of the state.
“To the credit of Melburnians, they heeded the warnings of the weather bureau and many of them did their best to minimise damage to their property.”
But one luxury car owner could have a nervous wait after his Maserati became stuck in a flooded underpass in Footscray. Photos of the submerged car were circulated online and sparked concerns the unfortunate owner might not be able to claim coverage.
Mr Fuller said the insurers would have to assess every detail of the accident.
“In general, comprehensive motor vehicle insurance covers storm damage,” Mr Fuller said.
SKY CAM CAPTURES EUROA FLOODS
DRONE images from Euroa resident Anthony Chisholm have captured the extent of flooding in Victoria’s northeast on the weekend.
The images, taken on Saturday, show Sevens Creek flooding over the landmark Burton’s Bridge, touching the edge of a few local properties and completely surrounding others.
“It’s an amazing shot which shows the volume of water that has come through here,” Mr Chisholm said.
A comparison image, taken in January 2017, shows the river flowing at normal level.
“The sheer volume of rain was extraordinary, a friend who has been in Euroa for 35 years said she hadn’t experienced rain quite like it before,” he said.
“The community pulling together helping each other out is amazing — it makes Euroa such an amazing place to live.”
The Euroa golf course was also engulfed by water.
Mr Chisholm, an aircraft engineer in Melbourne, and his wife Felicity spend their weekends in Euroa, but were unable to gain access to their properties when they arrived Friday night due to flood waters.
“It was a very passive attempt via two different routes but we just stopped, as it was the sensible thing to do because of the amount of water on the road.
“We gave up at about 2am and stayed at the Castle Creek Motel.”
The Bureau of Meteorology reported Sevens Creek peaked at 5.10 metres around 7am on Saturday, with the major flood level for the creek at 4.6 metres.
The creek’s water levels were falling throughout Sunday, with a further 5 to 10mm of rain forecasted for Sunday.
THE STORM IN NUMBERS
■ Mount St Leonard, near Healesville, is the wettest spot in the state, drenched with 235mm
■ Half the state has received its entire December average already
■ Saturday was Victoria’s wettest day in six years, and the wettest December day since 1993
■ Residents in Kialla West, near Shepparton, are at high risk, with flooding expected to peak at 5.9m early Monday morning
■ Euroa has been hit hardest by floods, with Seven Creeks peaking at 5.1m
■ Minor flooding is expected along Wangaratta along the Ovens River, and along the Yarra River from Healesville to Abbotsford
■ Melbourne saw its wettest 24 hours since 1992, with the CBD receiving 67mm of rain since Friday, and more than the December average of rain in just 48 hours
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