NSW SES warns floods could last for months as wet weather to linger
Australians in the midst of another flood crisis are being told to bunker down for the long haul as more rain is forecast for the east coast.
East-coast residents smashed by yet another massive rain system are being told the worst is yet to come as floods are expected to last for months.
NSW State Emergency Services deputy commissioner Ken Murphy has warned residents to prepare for a long, wet summer.
“What we need to be mindful of is this is a very, very long event and broadly across all of NSW, these floods will continue for a number of months,” he told ABC News on Wednesday.
More than 100mm of rain has been forecast over the next eight days in NSW and Queensland border communities, western NSW and northern parts of Victoria.
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has toured flood-affected areas across NSW, Victoria and Tasmania, describing the impact of the downpour as “devastating”.
“My heart goes out to the communities who have been impacted,” he said. “It’s expected that there may well be more weather events on the way.”
Mr Albanese also noted that Australia needed to do more to stop climate change in the face of the floods.
“We need to act on climate change, we need to make sure that we have clean, cheap energy,” he said.
Here’s what you need to know in each state.
VICTORIA
A one-off $10,000 payment will be available to flood-affected Victorian farmers to help them re-establish their properties and get their businesses up and running again.
They will also be eligible for concessional loans of up to $250,000 to restore or replace damaged assets and can claim up to 50 per cent of costs – up to $15,000 – for emergency transport of stock or feed.
Victorian small businesses directly impacted will also be eligible for a one-off payment of $5000 towards to help them reopen as soon as possible.
Applications for the grants will open on October 20.
The Andrews government has also committed $4.4m towards extra mental healthcare for flood affected Victorians. This includes $1.5m towards mental health and wellbeing hubs created during the pandemic.
It comes as the state recorded its second flood death after the body of a 65-year-old man was found floating in floodwaters in Nathalia, east of Echuca.
A family member made the grim discovery at 8.45am on Wednesday.
The tractor – on which the man was last seen riding – was found unoccupied during an overnight search.
A coroner will prepare a report on the circumstances surrounding his death, but it not being treated as suspicious.
Meanwhile, a 3.4 magnitude earthquake was recorded northeast of Melbourne.
Around 9am on Wednesday, 36 residents reported to the SES that they had felt the minor earthquake.
The suburb has been spared from flooding at this stage.
Mixing things up with a 3.4 magnitude earthquake near Mansfield at 9.01am this morning. Geoscience Australia has received 36 felt reports so far. pic.twitter.com/Oll5WXykcu
— VICSES News (@vicsesnews) October 18, 2022
There are more than 300 ADF personnel aiding in flood efforts across the state and are expected to arrive on the ground tomorrow in hard-hit towns like Rochester, Seymour, Echuca and Bendigo.
The Murray River in Echuca is expected to peak at 95.6m on Saturday, which would make it the town’s worst flood event in more than 150 years.
The highest recorded flood level is 96.2m set back in 1870, with around 2000 properties expected to be impacted by this current event.
Sewerage is overwhelmed in both Echuca and Rochester, as residents report toilets aren’t flushing and sinks aren’t draining.
The sewerage network in Rochester could be down for up to eight weeks, Coliban Water chief executive Damian Wells said.
The SES has warned that the town of Kerang could be cut off for up two weeks due to isolating floodwaters in the coming days.
Victorian SES chief officer operations Tim Wiebusch said their focus was on the Murray River “in particular on Wednesday”.
Thunderstorms stretched more than 2000 kilometres across the NT and SA during the last 24 hours, giving a preview of what’s heading for eastern Australia over the next few days.
— Weatherzone (@weatherzone) October 18, 2022
More at https://t.co/7V2xRnpH80pic.twitter.com/wRv2zbJKSk
“We’ll see major flood levels starting to be reached later today and then picking up Thursday into Friday,” he told Sunrise on Wednesday.
“And then across to Kerang … where we are expecting major flood levels to start to be reached from later tonight and peaking through Thursday.”
He said residents in some regions had been told to be prepare to be isolated for up to 72 hours.
The Goulburn River peaked at 12.06m on Monday morning in Shepparton’s worst flood event in nearly 50 years.
It comes as the state recorded its second flood death after the body of a 65-year-old man floating in floodwaters in Nathalia, east of Echuca.
A family member made the grim discovery at 8.45am on Wednesday.
The tractor – on which the man was last seen riding – was found unoccupied during an overnight search.
A coroner will prepare a report on the circumstances surrounding his death but it not being treated as suspicious.
The Bureau of Meteorology has also forecast possible renewed peaks on the Murray River on Wednesday and Thursday as the Goulburn River floods into it.
Victorian emergency services commissioner Andrew Crisp called it the “second peak”.
“So we’re looking at this next 24 hours to 48 hours, where we’re seeing the water from the Goulburn work its way down the Murray River towards Echuca,” he told the ABC on Tuesday.
“We will see what we’re calling this ‘second peak’. The community is doing exactly what it should be doing, working with emergency services and planning for what might eventuate.”
Victoria SES has issued just under 50 flood warnings as of Wednesday morning, with 12 emergency warnings in place.
VICTORIAN EMERGENCY WARNINGS
- Shepparton, Mooroopna, Orrvale, Murchison, Kialla West, Murchison (too late to leave)
- Barmah and Lower Moira (evacuate immediately)
- Echuca and Echuca Village (evacuate immediately)
- Charlton (evacuate immediately)
- Bunbartha, Zeerust, Mundoona and Kaarimba (evacuate immediately)
- Rochester (move to higher ground)
- Campaspe River downstream of Rochester (move to higher ground)
- Nanneella, Fairy Dell, Koyuga and Kanyapella South (move to higher ground)
- Campaspe River Lake Eppalock to Barnadown (move to higher ground)
- Loddon River Loddon Weir to Kerang (move to higher ground)
NSW
Most of NSW’s coastline is expected to remain dry throughout Wednesday south of Coffs Harbour.
But it will be the only day of reprieve, with more rain expected in Port Macquarie, Newcastle and Sydney for the rest of the week.
In the Riverina, Backwater Creek and Murray Valley Regional Park residents had to be evacuated on Tuesday afternoon, while residents in Poverty Point, Picnic Point and east Mathoura were told to evacuate earlier in the day.
In Moana, 300 people had been evacuated as of Tuesday, while thousands more in the area are on alert.
No more evacuations had taken place as of Wednesday morning, but there are eight emergency warnings in the area.
East Moama residents have been told to evacuate before 1pm on Wednesday.
Two base camps have been established to accommodate up to 550 people, while the SES has dispatched more than 125,000 sandbags into the community.
Residents in Forbes in the state’s Central West also had to be evacuated last week after dangerous floods hit the area.
Up to 180 ADF personnel will be rolled out into high-risk communities across the state over the coming days, particularly in western regions.
NSW SES has issued more 70 flood warnings as of Wednesday morning, with nine emergency warnings in place.
NSW Emergency Services and Flood Recovery Minister Steph Cooke said flooding would particularly impact western and southern areas of the state.
“Almost every river system west of the divide is in flooding to some extent at present. Some of those river systems are minor, others moderate and others major. It doesn‘t take much rain to cause those rivers to rise and rise very quickly,” she said.
“This is what living through a third consecutive La Nina event looks like … our grounds are saturated and we are continuing to see rain and more rain.”
NSW SES deputy commissioner Ken Murphy warned NSW residents to be prepared for floods to continue over the coming months.
“What we need to be mindful of is this is a very, very long event and broadly across all of NSW, these floods will continue for a number of months,” he told the ABC on Wednesday.
NSW EMERGENCY WARNINGS
- Picnic Point, Mathoura East (evacuate)
- Moama Caravan and Tourist Parks (evacuate)
- Cummeragunja (evacuate)
- South West Narrandera (evacuate)
- Parts of Narrandera South (evacuate)
- South West Narrandera (evacuate)
- Parts of East Moama (evacuate)
- Murray Valley Regional Park (evacuate)
QUEENSLAND
A severe weather warning for heavy rainfall and damaging winds has been issued for parts of the northwest, central west, Channel Country, and Maranoa and Warrego districts.
Severe thunderstorms are likely to produce damaging winds and heavy rainfall that may lead to flash flooding throughout Wednesday morning.
Moderate flood warnings have been issued for the Bulloo and Paroo rivers.
SA
A severe weather warning for heavy rainfall and damaging winds has been issued for the Flinders, northwest and northeast Pastoral districts.
Three-hourly rainfall totals of 20 to 30mm are possible, with isolated totals of up to 50mm.
This may lead to a few embedded thunderstorms and flash flooding throughout Wednesday morning.
Rainfall is expected to moderate and clear from the northwest during this morning.
Damaging wind gusts of 90 to 100km/h are possible along the Flinders Ranges.
A flood watch is in place for parts of the northwest and northeast Pastoral districts.
TASMANIA
Residents of six local government areas in Tasmania will be able to access a discovery disaster payment of $1000 and $400 for children, according to Mr Albanese.
“Another 17 LGAs will be eligible for a disaster recovery allowance if they missed out on work due to the floods – whether that be because they couldn’t get there or because the business was affected,” he said.
Those who are eligible will receive the same pay as JobSeeker for up to 13 weeks.
Minor flooding is easing along the Meander River at Westwood Bridge, with no further flooding expected from Meander, Deloraine and Strathbridge.
Rainfall subsided across large parts of the state on Tuesday, meaning minor flooding has also eased along the North Esk River at Corra Linn, the South Esk River, the Macquarie River at Cressy Pumps and Elizabeth River.
River levels are expected to stay above the minor flood level at Lake Leake and Tooms Lake for the next few days.
More rainfall is forecast to arrive on Thursday and Friday, bringing renewed river rises and the possibility of flooding to these regions.
The forecast in the comings days and months
A slow moving low pressure system is making its way eastwards across Australia and bringing havoc for anyone in its firing line.
Sky News meteorologist Alison Osborne said it was unwelcome news for areas with already overflowing river catchments.
“It is certainly a daunting outlook for flooded parts of NSW and northern Victoria in the next eight days with further rainfall on the way,” she said.
“It is not taking much rain at the moment to see river levels rising, as it is effectively like pouring water into a full bucket … this means prolonged flooding, renewed flooding and worsening conditions are expected with this rain, particularly through inland NSW and also through northern Victoria.
“It is as we feared this spring, we’re seeing a relentless barrage of weather events rolling on through.”
She also warned the low pressure system would bring severe thunderstorms with it.
“As this system continues to push further east it will take the bulk of the rain with it and provide the perfect set-up for several days of severe thunderstorms,” Ms Osborne said.
“First over large swathes of eastern Queensland and across NSW, potentially over northern Victoria as well.”
However, coastal storms are more likely to light up those more populated areas on Friday.
“We are talking quite dangerous thunderstorms which may bring flash flooding but also damaging wind gusts and potentially large hail,” she said.
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