New Victorian flood front ruins farm sector

VICTORIA'S flood disaster will cost the state hundreds of millions of dollars, delivering a second crippling blow to the country's economy in weeks.

Aerial view of flooding from the Loddon River around Kerang in northern Victoria yesterday. Picture: Kelly Barnes

VICTORIA'S flood disaster will cost the state hundreds of millions of dollars, delivering a second crippling blow to the country's economy in weeks, after rampant floodwaters devastated the state's farming sector and rural infrastructure.

As estimates of the damage bill and the cost in lost production of the Queensland floods hit more than $30 billion, about one-third of Victoria was last night directly affected by the spreading floods.

The new head of the Victorian Floods Appeal, Ron Walker, told The Australian the floods were a tragedy, especially for farmers who had just endured years of drought.

"It will be hundreds of millions of dollars when you take into account the loss of crops and the damage to the infrastructure of Victoria," he said yesterday. "The exact figure is unquantifiable at the moment and I think will probably be for the months ahead."

The spiralling costs of the unfolding disaster coincided with a new emergency yesterday when fears emerged that the weir in the northwestern town of Dimboola could fail today, sending floodwaters surging through the town's streets and homes.

Last night many of the town's 2000 residents were evacuating their homes and taking shelter at the Dimboola Secondary College following an SES emergency warning that the overflowing weir was in danger of failure and that this could send fast-flowing water through the town.

In the state's north, the fate of the besieged township of Kerang will remain uncertain for the next three days as the surging waters of the Loddon river continue to pose a risk to the protective levees holding back massive amounts of floodwater.

Engineers fixed leaks in the levee yesterday, but SES state operations manager Tim Wiebusch said the levee would remain a risk for the next three days because of the huge wall of water bearing down on Kerang.

"This flood emergency is still far from over," he said, with waters around several towns, including Dimboola, Jeparit, Brim and Beulah, yet to peak.

Emergency Services Minister Peter Ryan said the floods, which have hit more than 1730 properties, were far from over, with waters expected to keep travelling north in the next 10 days.

"This is without doubt the most significant flood in Victoria in the north and the northwest regions since the records began, something in the order of 130 years ago," Mr Ryan said.

As the floodwaters continue to wreak havoc, the true cost of the damage bill is starting to be realised. The Victorian Employers Chamber of Commerce and Industry estimates the cost to the state's economy will run into the hundreds of millions of dollars.

Although Victorian Premier Ted Baillieu has announced the establishment of a flood taskforce, responsible for providing initial assistance to affected communities, the chamber said that because of the scope of the damage it needed to include representatives from outside government, as had occurred in Queensland.

The Victorian Farmers Federation backed the damage estimates, saying there had been devastating loss of grain and horticultural crops and significant livestock losses.

"Some of the greatest impact has been on grains, with some crops wiped out completely," said VFF deputy president Peter Tuohey. This would cost affected farmers "tens of millions of dollars" as the grains would be downgraded in quality and price.

"This year was supposed to be the best year ever after so many years of drought and now it's turned out to be a real gut-wrenching year," he said. "It will devastate a lot of farmers."

Mr Tuohey said Victoria provided a third of the country's grains and about a third of the nation's stonefruit. There would be additional pressure on Victoria to provide more fruit and vegetables, given the damage sustained to crops in Queensland- and the state's floods did not help.

"There will certainly be a lack of supply," he said.

Mr Tuohey said the floods would cause relatively small price rises in grains, because some grain crops had already been largely harvested. "There will be a small flow on which will affect the price of bread," he said. "But the impact on the fresh fruits will be worse. There will be a shortage of stone-fruits from the area."

Premier Ted Baillieu said Mr Walker, a former chairman of Fairfax Media and currently head of the Australian Grand Prix Corporation, was the right man to lead the Red Cross Victorian Floods Appeal because he had an accomplished fundraising record.

"These are the worst floods ever to hit the northern and northwestern Victoria. They have caused widespread devastation to local communities and massive long-term assistance will be required to help these communities recover and rebound,' Mr Baillieu said.

The Premier, who has already warned that the floods will deliver a "significant whack" to the state's economy, said last night the floods had caused enormous damage to roads, bridges, hospitals, utilities and mobile phone towers.

Yesterday floodwaters from four swollen rivers - the Wimmera, Avoca, Loddon and Campaspe - continued to surge north towards the Murray, threatening new towns and leaving a string of devastated communities.

Waters around the town of Warracknabeal peaked last night, flooding some streets, but homes were largely spared due to sandbag fortifications.

The VFF is working with the Department of Primary Industries on fodder drops to save the lives of livestock stranded by the floodwaters, which have affected 1730 properties.

Additional reporting: Stephen Lunn, AAP