’Under water’: Prime Minister Anthony Albanese to visit flood affected Victoria
Flooding is forecast to ease in Victoria as the Prime Minister is expected to touch down in the flood hit state on Wednesday.
Victorians have been urged to remain alert after torrential rains that caused widespread flooding begin to ease and residents begin the clean-up.
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese will see the damage for himself when he arrives in the state on Wednesday after touring disaster zones in the Gold Coast and in Far North Queensland.
Mr Albanese said on Tuesday his heart went out to Victorians in towns that were still recovering from the October 2022 floods.
“We flew over Rochester at that time and it’s terrible to think that a short time later, towns like Rochester and Seymour are very vulnerable there in Victoria,” Mr Albanese said.
“All of this is a reminder that the science told us that climate change would mean there would be more extreme weather events and they would be more intense.
“Unfortunately, we are seeing that play out with the number of events that we’re having to deal with right around Australia.”
But Victorians have been given a sliver of hope, as weather conditions ease and the likelihood of flash flooding events lessen around the state.
VICSES chief officer Tim Wiebusch said despite the good news, there were still 61 warnings in place for minor and major flood warnings across the state.
“The good news is that we will set start to see a number of those messages drop off this afternoon as the flood watch area is contracted to where we are seeing riverine flooding occurring,” he told the ABC on Tuesday.
He urged people to avoid risking driving through flood waters with a number of rescues being reported in the western Victoria.
The VicEmergency website urged residents returning to their properties to be careful.
“It is now safe to return to the evacuated area to assess impacts as the threat is reduced. Be aware of any hazards that may still exist in the warning area,” the website says.
Victorian Premier Jacinta Allan said it was not yet known how many households had been affected by flooding.
“That picture will emerge … over the next 24 hours and will very much guide the next phase of the operational response,” she said.
Dramatic Rescue
A man has been praised as a hero after entering raging floodwaters to rescue a woman swept off the road by a wall of water.
Several vehicles were hit by floodwaters in Elmore in central Victoria at about 7.15pm on Monday night, including the car of the 74-year-old Eaglehawk woman which was pulled into Bendigo Creek at Naughtons Bridge.
The car was swept about 100m downstream where it became caught in trees, allowing the woman to climb out of the vehicle and onto the roof.
Passer-by and good Samaritan Mitch Smith saw the woman in trouble before swimming through the treacherous waters to help her.
By the time Mr Smith had reached the woman, floodwaters were as high as the top windshield and were rapidly rising.
Putting his body on the line, Mr Smith ducked under water and pushed the woman into the branches of nearby trees, saving her life.
“The water was probably nine foot, 10 foot deep,” Mr Smith told ABC TV.
“She was pretty exhausted, she said her arms were getting super tired and they wouldn’t be able to hang on for much longer.”
Knowing that her life was still in danger, Mr Smith jumped back into the water and made the perilous journey back to his car to get a ratchet strap before swimming back to the trees.
He secured her to the tree with a ratchet strap before the pair waited an hour for emergency crews arrived to rescue them.
Mr Smith had little concern for his own safety when deciding he would rescue the woman.
“If it was my grandmother in the water I hope someone else would have done the same thing, yeah it was a very lucky situation,” he said.
Victoria Police have praised the man, thanking him for “risking his own life to jump into the water, securing the woman and staying with her, providing reassurance and care”.
Warnings still in place
Large parts of Victoria’s centre and north are under flood warnings after days of storms plagued the state.
Major warnings are in place for the Campaspe, Latrobe and Goulburn Rivers and minor warnings are in place for the Snowy, Thomson, Avoca, Bunyip, Kind, Loddon, Macalister, and Yarra Rivers as well as Dandenong Creek and the Seven Creeks.
At least a dozen homes in Seymour have been inundated with water after flood waters peaked at 6.8 metres overnight to Monday morning according to Victorian Premier Jacinta Allan.
That number could likely rise when floodwaters recede and it becomes safe for residents to return and crews to go in and assess the damage.
“But when you consider 6.8 metres, that peak at Seymour last night and the corresponding number of properties, that speaks to the huge community response that was enacted yesterday and that’s what I also want to extend my great thanks and appreciation to communities who understood the really difficult lessons particularly from the October 2022 floods and have responded by being prepared,” she said on Tuesday.
Authorities and community members moved 6500 sandbags to the town on Monday, with similar numbers put in place at other affected towns.
Emergency evacuation warnings have been issued for two townships in Victoria as torrential rain intensifies the state’s flooding crisis.
More than 1540 Victorians have called for help after more than three months of rain drenched some parts of the state on Monday.
Residents of low-lying parts of Seymour, 122km north of Melbourne, were told to “evacuate immediately” at 9pm as flooding threatened to exceed the major peak of 1993 at 6.65m.
“Even though river levels have fallen slightly, if you live, work or are holidaying in the streets listed, you should still Evacuate Immediately,” the Victorian Victoria State Emergency Service said.
A Relief Centre opened at Seymour Sports & Aquatic Centre at Chittick Park have taken in local residents overnight with the safest evacuation route via Anzac Ave to Chittick Park.
“If you do not evacuate before this time, your property may be isolated or inundated with water and it may be too late to leave,” she said.
As of Monday night, no homes were flooded above floor level, however a small number of businesses did experience overfloor flooding.
Some uninhabited homes previously damaged in the October 2022 flood have been flooded again.
An evacuation warning in low-lying parts of nearby Yea was escalated to “too late to leave” at 11.30pm.
“If you have not evacuated, you should shelter in the highest location possible,” the Victoria SES said.
Major flooding is easing along the Yea River at Devlins Bridge and peaked at 3.48m at 5.45pm, although flood levels remain above that of a single-story home.
Services such as power, water, sewerage and telephone may be lost during flooding.
Residents from Barnadown to Rochester have been urged to “move to higher ground” at 6.15am on Tuesday, as major flooding is expected to peak in Rochester Town midmorning.
Rainfall eased on Monday but the Campaspe river is at 113.5m and still rising, with floodwaters likely to rise more than a metre.
Victoria SES remind locals major roads in the are have been impacted by flooding and drivers should take care as road surface conditions may have changed.
The Midland Highway from Huntly to Elmore remains closed.
Storms hit Queensland again
Locals in southeast Queensland were hit by another storm on Tuesday
The morning storm dumped more than 130mm in three hours over Springfield Lakes near Ipswich.
People in parts of Ipswich, Scenic Rim and Lockyer Valley council areas being warned of further heavy rainfall on Tuesday night.
The latest warning, issued at 6.51pm “a severe thunderstorm likely to produce heavy rainfall that may lead to flash flooding was detected near Aratula and Rosevale”.
A severe thunderstorm warning was in place for a large area of Queensland, including the Northern Goldfields and Upper Flinders, Central Coast and Whitsundays, Central Highlands and Coalfields, Central West, Maranoa and Warrego, Darling Downs and Granite Belt and Southeast Coast forecast districts.
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