Fight to save street on wrong side of Echuca’s levee ends as sandbag wall collapses

The fight to keep rising floodwater at bay ended for some residents on the “wet side” of Echuca’s flood levee on Wednesday morning when a sandbag wall collapsed and their homes were inundated.

As those who had stayed to defend their properties waded through river water in their homes, the state government was establishing a temporary village of caravans and modular homes at Elmore for Rochester residents and others left homeless thanks to the floods.

This aerial shot on Wednesday shows the effectiveness of the levee wall built to keep floods at bay in Echuca.Credit: Jason South

A separate clean-up had begun in Melbourne’s outer-eastern suburbs following a deluge on Tuesday night.

Lilydale, Croydon and Mooroolbark bore the brunt of that downpour, with the Bureau of Meteorology recording 40 millimetres of rain in one 30-minute torrent. It caused flash flooding, prompted hundreds of calls for emergency assistance, and forced some drivers to abandon their cars by the roadside.

The water rose to knee level in Lefty’s Barber Shop in Lilydale, where owner Tara Taylor said chairs, fridges and washing machines had been destroyed.

“I’m assuming it’s pretty much everything in there [that’s ruined],” Taylor said. “I think there’s quite a bit of damage.”

Multiple businesses in Lilydale – including a beauty salon, a cafe and a real-estate agent – told Nine News the flooding had caused thousands of dollars worth of damage, with some owners pointing to the recent redevelopment of Lilydale Station as a contributing factor.

Kevin Delvin from the level-crossing removal project told Nine it would be reviewing the situation with input from local traders, community members and Melbourne Water.

In Echuca, the flood level was at 94.96 metres (above sea level) on Wednesday morning, two centimetres above what authorities believed would be the Murray River’s peak.

An evacuation order has been in place since the Campaspe River was overwhelmed 10 days ago, but some residents whose homes were not behind the makeshift levee built last week stayed to protect their homes, even though they said they received no further help from authorities.

Efforts to protect seven houses on Goulburn Road, in the town’s east, ended about 3am on Wednesday when a sandbag wall collapsed under the weight of water.

“We’ve all fought pretty hard, but it is what it is,” said Brett Leskie as he started cleaning debris from his mother Robyn McCluskey’s weatherboard home.

McCluskey said she felt a strange sense of relief.

“I feel quite humbled to think that we’ve had so much help, [but] it isn’t just me and my neighbours up there. It’s all around the community – they need so much help [for the clean-up efforts],” she said.

East Echuca residents Kim Hay and Robyn McCluskey console each other after battling rising floodwater for days.Credit: Jason South

Next door to her, Adam Clent was trawling the knee-deep water in his backyard with a fishing net. He had already recovered two goldfish that escaped his pond when the sandbag wall broke.

“[Now] I’m after number three,” he said. “I’ll get the crew back together if I can.”

Emergency Management Victoria said it was unlikely but not impossible that floodwater in Echuca, now at its highest level in more than a century, would rise further.

The flood level is not expected to recede markedly for the next seven to 10 days, but life in the centre of the town was slowly returning to normal on Wednesday, with some traders removing sandbags from their shopfronts and preparing to reopen.

About 100 residents displaced from their homes are staying at Victoria’s former quarantine centre at Mickleham.

Emergency Services Minister Jaclyn Symes said on Wednesday that remained a short- to medium-term option for those who had been flooded out, and she announced a temporary village of caravans and modular homes would be erected in Elmore for displaced residents from nearby Rochester.

“We will have capacity for around 350 dwellings,” Symes said. “It will start to scale up by the end of the week.”

Symes said many flooded Rochester residents wanted to be close to their homes.

“What they are seeking from government, what they want as a response to this flood event, is the ability to stay close to their community to ensure they can continue to work, rebuild and be able to stay connected as one.”

By Wednesday there were six relief centres operating in Victoria and more than 400 roads closed because of the floods.

The major emergency relief centre at Bendigo will close from Thursday, after providing shelter for up to 280 people at its peak.

Symes said about 14,000 of the 32,500 emergency payment applications received by the government had been processed.

She said the flooding threat was not over, with showers and thunderstorms in central and eastern Victoria on Wednesday and more later in the week and on Sunday.

The forecasts mean residents in East Gippsland are on alert for the first time since the beginning of Victoria’s flood crisis, and the Snowy River is at risk of major flooding from Buchan to Orbost from Wednesday.

East Gippsland mayor Mark Reeves said Marlo Road was closed due to flooding and farm paddocks in nearby areas such as Jarrahmond had been inundated.

Residents remain on high alert in Shepparton, Seymour, Kyneton, Melbourne, Bacchus Marsh and Wangaratta as flood levels are expected to rise on Wednesday.

The SES has urged people in these areas to be extra vigilant and to avoid driving through floodwaters.

Emergency services said the Murray River’s peak was now moving and could exacerbate flooding downstream at Barham. Torrumbarry may get major flooding this weekend, and Swan Hill will probably exceed its minor flood level on Saturday and experience major flooding late next week.

Meanwhile, Maribyrnong City Council resumed clean-up efforts after briefly halting hard-rubbish collections due to extreme weather conditions.

At least 1500 tonnes of waste material has been removed from Maribyrnong as residents assess the extent of flood damage.

With AAP

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