“It’s a very difficult number to go around and understand the impact that’s having on a large part of our community,” Sally told ABC Radio.
“Although we’ve been able to issue some warnings, and the community has gone to great lengths to try and reduce that, the level of flooding we’re seeing is almost impossible to stop.”
Damen Boat outside his home on the banks of the Campaspe River in Echuca.attributed to him:Bianca Hall
Susanna Shead, MP for Shepparton, said she was concerned about the town of Moropna, which has been completely cut off by flood waters from Shepparton, and Moropna residents now cannot reach the hospital if they need urgent care.
SES President Tim Wiebusch said the flooded Goulburn River in Shepparton was expected to reach its peak near 12.20 meters on Monday morning – putting 7,300 homes at risk of flooding or isolation.
He warned that if the water rose further, another 1,600 homes would be at risk of flooding. More than 400 Victorian roads have been closed, many of them in the north of the state.
“This will be our most significant impact today and into the early hours of tomorrow morning,” Wiebusch said on Sunday.
“Last night the Goulburn River peaked across Moropna and Shepparton as the bridge was closed, but we expect the maximum peak to be around 12.2m early tomorrow morning. At 12.2m we expect 7,300 properties to be surrounded and some flooded.
“We could see approximately 2,500 properties see flooding above ground level. If it goes up another 1.1 meters to 12.3 metres. We can see another 1,600 homes at risk of those big floods.”
Wiebusch said the biggest cause of flood death in Australia is people trying to drive through flood waters.
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There have been more than 450 rescues since the flood event began on Wednesday, and 88 rescues in the past 24 hours.
In the Murray River town of Echuca, where locals built an embankment of land dividing the town, the Campaspi River was due to reach its peak at 96.2 metres, meaning that about 1,000 properties would be surrounded by floodwaters.
Vic Emergency warns that the worst is yet to come. The Murray River at Echuca Pier is likely to exceed the great flood level of 94.4 meters above sea level on Monday, and could reach 95 meters on Wednesday or Thursday, a level similar to the floods of 1993.
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Wiebusch warned that the summit of the Murray River would be above the level of the Great Flood.
“We expect that a similar amount of property will again be threatened by a major flood level for at least three to four days,” he said.
Prime Minister Daniel Andrews has warned that recovery efforts will take a long time, as he confirmed that Melbourne Water will investigate whether building a wall at Flemington Racecourse has exacerbated flooding in Marybyrnong.
Thousands of people were left without power after rising flood waters in the Goulburn River breached Powercorp’s barrier and reached a level at a substation in Mooroopna, making on-site energy conservation unsafe.
“As a result, we earlier this morning deactivated the substation,” a statement from the electricity company said.
“At this point, approximately 5,954 customers will remain out of stream until it is safe for us to reactivate the site.”
Department of Transportation spokesman Andrew Crook warned on ABC Radio that many roads around the affected towns will also be impassable and unpredictable.
“The situation with flood waters can change quickly, so you don’t necessarily think that you can navigate around those closed roads to cross these areas,” he said.
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Originally published at Melbourne News Vine
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