Men rescued in floods as wild weather hits Tasmania

TWO men have been winched to safety from floodwaters in the North-East where flooding is expected to continue.

Matt Kennedy, of Clifton Beach, surfs wild weather at Pirates Bay on the Tasman Peninsula. Picture: MATT THOMPSON

TWO men have been winched to safety from floodwaters in the North-East where flooding is expected to continue today.

Moderate flooding has developed in the Macquarie River at Ross, where the river peaked near the major flood level overnight.

SUNDAY TRAFFIC CHAOS

Moderate flooding is expected to extend downstream to Morningside and Cressy today and river levels are expected to be similar to those observed in the recent September and October floods

Tooms Lake and Lake Leake are both full and spilling while high river levels along the Elizabeth River and at Campbell Town are expected to continue today.

In the 24 hours to 9am Sunday rainfall totals of up to 70mm were recorded in the Macquarie catchment.

Rainfall has eased and no significant rainfall is forecast for the Macquarie catchment today but strong and dangerous flows will remain a hazard throughout the Macquarie catchment for the next few days.

Flood warnings are still active for several Tasmanian river basins today, including a moderate warning in the upper reaches of the South Esk catchment from Fingal to Llewellyn.

Strong rises are expected to continue throughout the middle and lower reaches today. Minor flooding is set to develop around Perth late today.

Minor flood warnings have also been issued for the North Esk River, the Ouse River and the Jordan River.

Bhabika Tendun, left, Tenika Sharma, Angu Tendun, Sandra Sharma try to stay dry at the Blowhole on the Tasman Peninsula. Picture: MATT THOMPSON

An Orford man, 79, was rescued by helicopter when his four-wheel-drive ute was washed off a road crossing the St Pauls River near Avoca.

Police said a rescue crewman was winched on to the roof of the man’s car to help the man into the helicopter.

The rescue helicopter then flew to an area near Evercreech, north-east of Mathinna, where a man, 58, had become stranded in his caravan.

“He had been camping by the banks of the South Esk River when the river rose and inundated his vehicle and caravan,” Tasmania Police said.

The man was also winched into the helicopter. Police said both men were cold and wet but otherwise unharmed.

Matt Kennedy, of Clifton Beach, broke his board surfing in wild weather at Pirates Bay, Tasman Peninsula. Picture: MATT THOMPSON.

Police said they received several reports of motorists attempting to drive through flooded roadways yesterday and said attempting to do so was very dangerous.

The weather also caused chaos for Hobart motorists yesterday as the Point to Pinnacle was re-routed because of conditions on Mt Wellington, closing several major roads.

It is understood some people missed flights because of traffic delays.

Matt Kennedy was surfing with mates at Pirates Bay on the Tasman Peninsula when his board broke.

“I was going for a bit of an aerial manoeuvre and I landed quite heavily,” he said. “The board just popped and broke.”

At Blundstone Arena, the wet weather forced the abandonment of a day’s play in Test cricket in Hobart for the first time ever.

Originally published as Men rescued in floods as wild weather hits Tasmania