Southeast states brace for rain deluge

Authorities warn the worst is yet to come as summer’s first major storm wreaks havoc in two states.

Lana Connor and Jacqulin Pack take cover as the first drops of rain start in Ocean Grove. Picture: Glenn Ferguson

Victorians have been warned that the worst is yet to come as a major storm event causes widespread flooding and transport havoc.

Premier Daniel Andrews urged Victorians to go home early and stay indoors as the deluge cut train lines, power and forced the closure of lanes on at least one major freeway in Melbourne.

As many as 1000 homes are already without power and emergency services have received about 800 calls for help.

“This is an event that isn’t just Friday alone,” Emergency Services Commissioner Craig Lapsley told the Herald Sun.

“It will reach into Friday night, Saturday and, in particular, the forecasted rain for Saturday is in the hundreds of millimetres.

“It could go as far as 250mm in the northeast.

“Some people would say ‘where is it?’

“The forecast is still there in the sense that we’ve seen 30mm of rain in the metropolitan areas already and we expect another 30mm overnight.

“In two days we will have what is the normal December rainfall.”

#Rainageddon in Melbourne pic.twitter.com/012z0x9hWH

— David Cabler 🌈 (@DavidCabler) December 1, 2017

Rainfall records could be broken by up to 30mm in the northeast ranges of Victoria, where experts are most concerned about serious flooding over the weekend.

“We are having significant flooding right across the state and things are set to worsen this evening and right through the weekend,” Premier Andrews told reporters this afternoon.

Meanwhile:

* A dozen Victorians fell from ladders while preparing their properties for the freak storms, paramedics say

* Several major events cancelled including Taste of Melbourne, Polo in the City and Premier Grade cricket

* Qantas flight QF94 from Los Angeles to Melbourne has been diverted to Sydney, with more international diversions expected

* Domestically, there are numerous flight delays and some cancellations, with Melbourne Airport urging travellers to check for changes

* Rail works and a glut of rain-fearing commuters resulted in reports of queues at least a kilometre long for suburban Melbourne buses on Friday morning

* Homeless “sleeping rough” in Melbourne’s CBD will be offered free accommodation

* Outdoor adventurers told by authorities not to visit national parks, state forests and other bushland areas with flood warnings

Premier @DanielAndrewsMP tells Victorians to heed “common sense” storm warnings, with flooding across Victoria to continue @theheraldsun pic.twitter.com/85nBJXVTKq

— Monique Hore (@moniquehore) December 1, 2017

RHL Sparks Reserve #floodwatch #melbournestorm pic.twitter.com/qoShInZWT2

— chipsy (@chipsy88) December 1, 2017

“For the northeast ranges, it is very likely we will have really heavy extreme rainfall in the next 24-48 hours. If you are in low-lying areas, I would be particularly be concerned and you need to start about what actions you are going to take,” said BOM senior meteorologist James Taylor.

“It is likely the northeast rivers are at the greatest risk for riverine flooding... We have looked at the current rainfall guidance, and there are locations that we are forecasting in the northeast ranges that could beat records by 20-30 millimetres.”

SES volunteers fill sand bags in Port Melbourne.

Commuters felt the impact even before peak hour hit, with delays on several metro rail lines that were flooded. Lanes were also reportedly closed on the Monash Freeway, linking the city to the southeastern suburbs.

Meanwhile in South Australia, power blackouts have hit in the area where billionaire Elon Musk’s battery was turned on for the first time today.

Ivanhoe station canal. Services resuming with some delays as timetable gets back on track. Travel safe, metro staff and commuters. pic.twitter.com/pez0ydxfqr

— Anthony Carbines MP (@ACarbinesMP) December 1, 2017

A car drives under the rail bridge on Dudley street in Melbourne.

Pedestrians shelter under umbrellas in Melbourne on Friday.

Ladder injuries as Victoria battens down

A dozen people, most of them aged over 50, have been injured after falling from ladders as they raced to prepare their properties for unprecedented Victorian storms, which have started sweeping across the state.

One Bendigo man in his 80s was flown to hospital with critical head and spinal injuries, and another 10 men and one woman also fell from ladders yesterday.

Ambulance Victoria say most were clearing their gutters ahead of the torrential rain which has already hit the far west of the state.

Rain has also started in Melbourne but is light in most places, with 1mm recorded between 9am and 10.30am this morning.

Melbourne’s skyline obscured by heavy rain today.

However senior meteorologist Scott Williams from the extreme weather desk at the Bureau of Meteorology warned Melburnians not to be complacent as they left home this morning.

“They didn’t think the Titanic would sink, but it did two hours later,” he said.

SES Victoria have restocked sandbags at local hardware stores and set up collection points for residents, including seven in metropolitan Melbourne and 15 across regional Victoria.

In the past 24 hours, the west of Victoria has experienced steady, heavy rainfall, with places like Dimboola, in the north Wimmera region northwest of Melbourne, recording 41mm in the 24 hours to 9am this morning. Apsley, in the south Wimmera, has had 42mm in the same period.

Ararat, an hour northwest of Melbourne, recorded 28mm from 9am.

Huge thunderstorms and dangerous flash flooding in Victoria could see lives lost and farms turned into lakes, experts have warned, as an “absolutely massive” weather event is set to batter multiple states.

The Bureau of Meteorology has warned Melbourne could flood at levels not experienced for decades, with between 50-100mm of rain forecast for tomorrow and another similar burst predicted for Sunday morning.

“In 1974 there were some pretty bad floods, the year of tropical Cyclone Tracy. But in recent years, probably half the inhabitants of Melbourne have never even seen something like this,” said Mr Williams yesterday. “We are in uncharted territory.”

Victoria will bear the brunt of the major storm which is also to also hit parts of eastern South Australia, southern NSW and Tasmania.

Melbourne radar:

South Australia

This morning about 1500 homes in SA are without power as heavy rains and winds move across the state.

The Bureau of Meteorology says more heavy rain and damaging winds are forecast across much of SA’s north, and possible flash flooding in some parts. Earlier, the storms moved across the southeast of the state, dumping heavy rain on some centres, including 19mm at Mount Gambier and similar falls at Naracoorte. The Mount Lofty Ranges received 25mm.

The State Emergency Service said it had taken around 60 calls for help, mainly for fallen trees.

Wind gusts of up to 118 km/h were recorded at Oodnadatta on Thursday night and a flood watch has been issued for the Torrens, Galwer, and Onkaparinga rivers. Adelaide is inching towards a predicted top of 21C today.

The extreme conditions are a result of a large high pressure system near New Zealand directing a hot and humid airstream down from Northern Australia, which will combine with a major low pressure system intensifying over Victoria.

Mr Williams said the level of humidity in Victoria — which he likened to tropical Cairns or Port Douglas — combined with the low pressure system will lead to short, intense bursts of rain, increasing the risk of flooding.

“This is an event of absolute massive scale, it is an event that poses a threat to life, there will be massive amount of lightning, there will be roads cut, floodwaters,” he said.

“This event will turn farms into lakes, I think, with such rapid rain rates. It’s an event where one has to really look after their own safety in terms of lightning. Stay indoors if you can.”

Severe thunderstorms have already started in far west Victoria and a total of about 30mm of rain has been recorded in South Australia, where there has been a “tremendous amount of lightning”.

SES volunteers in Victoria are on high alert as they prepare for the next 72 hours, with sandbag collection points being established. A flood watch has been issued for the entire state from Friday onwards.

“The whole state is likely to get heavy rain, at some point in time, not all at once, but over 72 hours,” said Mr Williams. “This is not just Victoria, it’s eastern SA, southern NSW, Tasmania. It’s a massive weather event.”

Adelaide radar:

In parts of the Mallee region in northwest Victoria, there could by up to 50mm of rain in just one hour tomorrow. Peak totals of up to 300mm are expected to be recorded in the northeast of Victoria over the three days, with the northeast ranges predicted to get up to 250mm, and the northern and central regions between 100 and 200mm.

The low pressure system will head southeast over the coming days, with heavy rain hitting Melbourne tomorrow afternoon.

“It terms of the heaviest rainfalls you’d probably think northeast Victoria, but in terms of the impact on people I fear it will be (worst in) Melbourne,” he said.

“To put it in context, three times the average rainfall we see in Melbourne in the month of December, just in the first three days of December.”

Hobart radar:

Premier Daniel Andrews told the Victorian parliament this morning residents should start to brace themselves for the downpour.

“This is a very serious matter and one that will pose a very severe challenge to communities right across the state and will be a direct challenge to public safety,” he said.

“Please, listen to those warnings, heed them and that is the best thing you can do in order to keep yourself and your family safe and what’s more, to not put our emergency services in harm’s way having to come to your aid.”

Tim Wiebsuch, the deputy chief officer of Victoria SES, said the state hadn’t seen a weather event of a similar magnitude since 2010 in regional Victoria, and since 2005 in metro Melbourne.

“We’re likely to see flooding and heavy rainfall that we haven’t seen since 2010. And as such, we’re alerting all Victorians to take precautions over this coming weekend. Don’t drive through flash flood waters, don’t ride, walk or play in flood waters, as you just don’t know what is in those waters,” he said.

“It only takes 15 centimetres for a small vehicle to float. We don’t want to see our emergency services tied up this weekend trying to rescue people from flood waters.

“If you’re in the farming community, now is the time to start taking precautions from removing your pumps from alongside the rivers, and moving stock to higher ground.”

Emergency services have also started working with catchment management authorities to determine where there might be initial opportunities for early water storage releases.

NSW update

Farmers across the state have pulled all-nighters as they frantically harvest crops to beat the massive rainfall set to drench parts of southern NSW. The Bureau of Meteorology issued a severe weather warning for heavy rain, flash flooding and damaging winds for parts of the state this morning. At least 100mm of rain is predicted over the weekend.

The wild weather means unharvested crops are at risk of being wiped out, with warnings the rapid rain rates could “turn farms into lakes”, according to a weather bureau meteorologist.

Farmer Nayce Dalton worked all night on his farm at Binya, east of Griffith in the state’s Riverina, to get his wheat crop in, finishing at 5am. Others, he said, weren’t so lucky with many crops left unharvested and vulnerable.

“It would be horrible if the crop was still out there,” he told AAP. “Your pay is sitting out there. We’ve got through a tough year by the skin of our teeth. The crops aren’t fantastic but what’s out there is still significant to us.” BOM senior meteorologist Adam Morgan on Thursday said the heaviest downfalls are expected between Friday and Sunday over northern Victoria and southern and central NSW.