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AT A GLANCE
- LIVE RADAR: Emergency updates, road closures
- PHOTOS AND VIDEO: Your photos and video coverage
- TWITTER: Live social media coverage
- CHARLTON: Charlton takes a breath
- DONALD: Rising water, but Bullock’s head still up
- WEDDERBURN: Cacti farmer works to saves his plants
- CARISBROOK: Carisbrook calms after flood fears
- WIMMERA: Live updates from the Wimmera region
- BALLARAT: Live updates from the Ballarat region
- For emergency assistance contact the SES on 132 500
- For VicRoads road closures, click here
For continuing coverage of the floods beyond September 18, click here.
UPDATE 2.40pm: Emergency services and local government authorities will hold six community meetings on Monday to inform people in Charlton, Bridgewater, Newbridge, Serpentine, Donald, Kerang, Quambatook, Carisbrook, Maryborough and surrounding areas about the current flood situation.
Charlton Community Meeting
- Where: Charlton Public Hall, 9 Armstrong Street, Charlton
- When: 10am, Monday 19 September 2016
Bridgewater, Newbridge and Serpentine Community Meeting
- Where: Bridgewater Town Hall, 37 Eldon Street, Bridgewater
- When: 10am, Monday 19 September 2016
Donald Community Meeting
- Where: Soldiers Memorial Hall, McCulloch Street, Donald
- When: 1pm, Monday 19 September 2016
Kerang Community Meeting
- Where: Kerang Memorial Hall, Nolan Street, Kerang
- When: 1.30pm, Monday 19 September 2016
Quambatook Community Meeting
- Where: Quambatook Seniors Hall, Olive Street, Quambatook
- When: 4pm, Monday 19 September 2016
Carisbrook & Maryborough Community Meeting
- Where: CFA Station, 9 Urquhart Street, Carisbrook
- When: 6pm, Monday 19 September 2016
UPDATE 11.10am: Water storage levels across central Victoria have risen tremendously in the two-and-a-half weeks of September so far.
Laanecoorie reservoir has the highest storage measurement among sites listed on the Goulburn-Murray Water webpage, registering a reading of more than 115 per cent capacity.
Tullaroop is not far behind, also showing water storage levels above 100 per cent.
GM Water shows Lake Eppalock at 82 per cent, but emergency management commissioner said yesterday there was no threat of the lake overflowing, with room for another 55,000 megalitres.
UPDATE SUNDAY 8.45am:
The latest SES flood update has brought good news for the town of Charlton, where river levels peaked yesterday afternoon and have already subsided to 7.2 metres.
Downstream, the Avoca River at Quambatook is not expected to peak until Tuesday, when it will reach somewhere near the major flood level of 2.4 metres.
Both towns have community meetings scheduled for Monday.
UPDATE 4pm: Bendigo’s incident control centre has been told next week’s weather is not looking as inclement as once thought.
Incident controller John Chaplin said this afternoon the region was now just expecting between 15 and 20 millimetres of rainfall in coming days, with little to none predicted tomorrow.
"Having said that, we still need people to be vigilant, to pay attention to warnings,” he said.
He said communities should be congratulated on their support of meetings inside their towns and for abiding by road closures.
In other good news, Mr Chaplin said the Richardson River at Donald should only rise to 3.7 metres, not high enough for floor-level inundations in the town.
There is, however, the potential for more road closures in the region, he said.
UPDATE 3.20pm: Emergency services have said water levels in the Avoca River at Charlton have peaked.
Bendigo incident controller John Chaplin said the river measured 7.55 metres high at 2pm today and expected it would remain at that level for at least 12 hours.
That is 35 centimetres below the 7.9 metres reached during the floods of 2010.
Emergency workers had earlier door-knocked 80 properties at risk of inundation, but Mr Chaplin said that was a “worst case scenario”.
Forces would remain deployed to the area throughout the weekend, and another community meeting was scheduled for Monday at 10am, he said.
But Mr Chaplin assured locals the presence of emergency workers should not be cause for alarm.
“Even though [residents are] seeing resources there, it's only in readiness,” Mr Chaplin said.
Still, he sensed nervousness in the region, with memories of the 2010 and 2011 floods still potent.
UPDATE 12.30pm: Victoria’s emergency management commissioner has said “the frustration is still to come” for many Victorian communities affected by torrential rains and floodwater this week.
Attending a plaque unveiling in Bendigo this morning, Craig Lapsley said the threat of flooding was far from over and other towns could expect to face the challenge of rising water over the weekend and into next week.
Places already inundated by water would have to wait for flooding to subside before the extent of damage to their infrastructure was determined, Mr Lapsley said.
Roads and bridges, as well as low-lying community assets like sports clubs, were among the facilities he believed would be damaged.
He warned another downpour of 25 millimetres or more in the next week would put further strain on communities living alongside rivers already at or above their capacity.
Despite the drowning death of Wallacedale man last week, Mr Lapsley said emergency management’s safety messages had been getting through.
“We’ve had good connection to community, so they’ve been able to heed warnings, take the appropriate action, which means people are making good decisions.”
UPDATE 10.40am: The federal and Victorian governments have broadened their list of flood-affected areas eligible for disaster assistance.
Money from the Natural Disaster Relief and Recovery Arrangements will now be made available to 22 local government areas.
The municipalities receiving NDRRA assistance are: Ararat, Ballarat, Buloke, Central Goldfields, Colac Otway, Corangamite, Glenelg, Golden Plains, Hepburn, Horsham, Loddon, Macedon Ranges, Mitchell, Moorabool, Mount Alexander, Moyne, Northern Grampians, Pyrenees, Southern Grampians, Surf Coast, West Wimmera and Yarriambiack.
Homeowners can apply for funding for their clean up and rebuild, as well as distress assistance expenses like counselling.
Local governments can also seek cash to assist in the restoration of damaged roads and bridges, and the removal of debris.
Anyone who has been affected by the flooding should call the Victorian Emergency Recovery Information Line on 1300 799 232 for assistance.
UPDATE SATURDAY 9.50am:
Major flooding is continuing in the Avoca River catchment today.
At Charlton, the river level is at 7.51 metres and "rising very slowly”, the state’s emergency services website reads.
It is expected to peak in the next few hours.
But no significant rainfall since yesterday morning, and no forecast of major rains today, will bring some comfort to the town’s residents.
The September 2010 floods peaked around 7.9 metres.
A moderate flood warning remains for the Loddon River.
UPDATE FRIDAY 5.40pm: Authorities predict the water will peak at 7.5 metres in Charlton during the evening, posing minimal risk to properties, but the town will again face the prospect of major flooding when rains return next week.
Incident controllers say it is too early to predict how heavy rains expected between Tuesday and Thursday will be, but if it turns out to be less than 20 millimetres or so the threat of inundation should remain low.
But if totals push the 50 millimetre mark, there will be more sleepless nights on the way for the otherwise sleepy towns along the Avoca River.
“As we get into the weekend the Bureau’s forecast for that rain event, Tuesday through to Thursday, will get more certain so they’ll be able to give us bit of a better handle on how much rain we’re expecting,” the incident control centre’s Ben Tate said.
In the meantime, there’s a grand final to win. Read more here.
UPDATE 5.30pm: What do you do when you have no power and a grand final to play in at the weekend? You train with the car lights on!
Thanks to Trent Cossar from Charlton for sending us this great photo of the Charlton senior footy players doing just that on Thursday night!
For more reader photos, click here.
UPDATE 5.10pm: Goulburn-Murray Water has urged water users to take care at storages following recent rainfall and flooding.
Several of the water authority’s storages are now full and significant inflows are making boating and other water activities dangerous.
GMW regional manager customer services west, Phillip Hoare, said high inflows increased the amount of debris in some of storages and in some cases moved buoys delineating boating zones and hazards.
“We strongly encourage vessel operators adhere to any speed restrictions, maintain a vigilant lookout for any navigational hazards and to operate vessels according to the weather and waterway conditions,” Mr Hoare said.
Laanecoorie Reservoir has been temporarily closed to vessel operation after the risks associated with any form of boating on this storage at this time were deemed too high.
As the waterway manager GMW was granted an Emergency Vessel Zoning rule to close the storage to boating.
“We believe there is a serious public safety risk associated with any form of boating on the reservoir,” he said.
”However we will continually monitor the situation and seek to remove the restriction as soon as conditions allow.
“Of particular concern is the loss of marker buoys during these high flows, which delineate exclusion zones.”
Maritime Safety Victoria has also issued a warning for boaters, kayakers, canoeists and water skiers to stay off floodwater, because:
- Rising water levels mean that previously visible hazards, such as trees and stumps, are now being submerged and creating risks for anyone on the water;
- Increased water flows and the associated faster moving water are creating safety risks, for example, making steering more difficult or paddling more tiring, and;
- Debris is being washed downstream that could be large enough to damage or overturn vessels, or affect their ability to be manoeuvred around danger spots.
For more information on GMW’s storage levels go to www.gmwater.com.au
UPDATE 4.45pm: Two men were rescued near Charlton when their car was caught in flood waters on Friday.
A spokeswoman for the Bendigo Incident Control Centre said the men were travelling north of Charlton on a part of the Calder Highway that was closed.
The car was stopped in water that was between one and two feet high.
A CFA tanker responded and the two men were rescued via the driver's side window.
Neither of the men were injured.
A tow truck was then called to remove the car.
The spokeswoman said it was important for people to obey road signs and check the VicRoads website for road closures.
UPDATE 3.20pm: Lake Eppalock is at about 80 per cent capacity this afternoon.
Regional manager of customer services Philip Hoare said Goulburn-Murray Water was doing everything it could to maximise water held in storage and to minimise downstream flows.
No water releases are planned at this stage.
UPDATE 2.45pm: Police have found a body in their search for a missing man in the south-west of the state.
The body is yet to be formally identified however, at this stage it is believed to be that of an 84-year-old Macarthur man who went missing yesterday.
Police had been searching for the man after his ute was swept into floodwaters near Ryans Road, Wallacedale, yesterday.
Investigators do not believe the death is suspicious.
Our thoughts are with all involved.
UPDATE 2.30pm: The State Emergency Service has been called to two rescues today – one in Charlton and another in Lubeck.
“Despite constant advice we are alarmed that people all still choosing to drive through floodwater,” a message on the Victoria SES Facebook page reads. “This places not only the individuals at risk, but also our emergency services crews.”
Never walk, ride or drive through floodwater.
UPDATE 2.15pm: No further flooding is expected in the Campaspe River catchment. A final flood warning has been issued for the river, meaning no further warnings will be issued for this event. Read it here.
UPDATE 2pm: For the latest updates on council roads closed across the region, click here.
UPDATE 1.30pm: Tullaroop Reservoir started to spill this morning, but gently.
Central Goldfields Shire Councillor Helen Broad said the result was a slow, gentle trickle of water that had yet to make much of a difference to the creeks flowing through Carisbrook.
The community met this morning to discuss Wednesday’s events, which saw the town on high alert for flooding.
Cr Broad said the people were “very vocal” about infrastructure they believed could be improved or added to reduce the flood risk, such as a proposed levee, previous flood works, and drainage.
“There are a lot of questions that need answering,” she said.
The community will meet again at 6pm on Monday at the Carisbrook Fire Station to discuss their plans for the next bout of wet weather, which is forecast for Tuesday.
Cr Broad was hopeful the reservoir would be in a position to accept further heavy rainfall before then.
She said a special council meeting on Thursday night provided an opportunity for elected representatives and staff to debrief about the flood risk.
Further comment is being sought from council.
UPDATE 1pm: Premier Daniel Andrews has announced disaster assistance for Victorians affected by flooding in the Buloke Shire.
Assistance is being provided through the jointly-funded Commonwealth-State Natural Disaster Relief and Recovery Arrangements.
Mr Andrews and Victorian Minister for Emergency Services James Merlino visited Charlton this morning to meet residents impacted by the floods and thank emergency services staff and volunteers for their work.
Mr Andrews said that Emergency Re-establishment grants are now being made available in addition to the Emergency Relief Assistance grants which are available to all flood affected communities.
“These grants provide assistance to people whose homes have been flood damaged so that they can clean-up their properties and replace damaged contents,” Mr Andrews said.
Individuals in the local government area of Buloke can now access the following emergency grants to relieve personal hardship and distress:
Emergency Relief Assistance, which provides payments of up to $520 per adult and $260 per child (up to a maximum of $1300 per household) is available to help meet immediate needs, including emergency food, shelter, clothing, and personal items.
Emergency Re-establishment Payments provide up to $32,500 per eligible household experiencing financial hardship, who have been flood affected at their primary place of residence.
The grants are available for cleanup, emergency accommodation, repairs, rebuilding (a principal place of residence), and replacing some damaged contents.
Mr Andrews said the Victorian government was closely monitoring the flood situation and that assistance would be extended to other areas if required.
Anyone who has been affected by the flooding and is suffering personal hardship and distress should call the Victorian Emergency Recovery Information Line on 1300 799 232.
UPDATE 12.30pm: Emergency services continue to work with the Charlton community to prepare for when the Avoca River in Charlton reaches its peak this afternoon or overnight.
Incident Controller John Chaplain said the Avoca River at the Charlton town gauge exceeded the major flood level of 7 metres around 1pm on Thursday.
“The river is forecast to continue to rise throughout Friday and peak at 7.5 metres this afternoon, this evening or early Saturday morning,” Mr Chaplain said.
“The river reached 7.9 metres in the September 2011 floods but it is not expected to reach that level this time.
“Emergency services are working with the local community to ensure everyone is aware of what might be ahead when the river hits its peak in the next 24 hours.
“Over the last few days we have door knocked properties that may be affected and held three community meetings in Charlton.
“This morning’s community meeting was attended by around 300 people and once again emergency services emphasised the importance of taking action right now to prepare for later today and overnight when the Avoca River will reach its peak.
“There may be impacts to essential services including power and phone services so people should be preparing now.
“Emergency services have generators in Charlton as a contingency if power fails plus two lighting trailers.
“There is a Relief Centre open in Charlton Public Hall in Armstrong Street.”
The VIC SES Flood and Storm Info Line is now active - 1300 842 737
The latest emergency information is available at www.emergency.vic.gov.au
For emergency assistance contact the SES on 132 500.
Current Road and Traffic Information is available at the VicRoads website: http://traffic.vicroads.vic.gov.au
UPDATE 12.10pm: Premier Daniel Andrews and emergency services minister James Merlino are addressing media in Charlton. Watch it here:
UPDATE 11.10am: Authorities are now predicting the river will continue rising throughout the day at Charlton and into this evening, before peaking at 7.5 metres.
The Incident Control Centre’s Ben Tate told a packed town meeting that while some catchments were approaching levels seen in 2010, the water was not expected to reach those levels in Charlton.
“We’re looking at a peak of 7.5, which is a lot lower than September 2010 in Charlton, that peaked at about 7.9 so we’ve got a bit lower than that event which is very positive,” he said.
"Then after that peak we don’t pack up and go home, after that we’ve got days of high water levels before that all drains away, so there’s going to be a lot of work in recovery mode after the peak goes through.”
Mr Tate said more heavy rain was possible between Tuesday and Thursday next week, but any impact on Charlton would only become clear during the weekend.
“As we get into the weekend the Bureau’s forecast for that rain event, Tuesday through to Thursday, will get more certain so they’ll be able to give us bit of a better handle on how much rain we’re expecting,” he said.
“If we’re only looking at 10-20 millimetres or something it’s not going to do much to levels in Charlton, you might see some slight rises in the river but you’re not going to see peaks getting back up to 7.5, but if that rainfall was getting close to 50 millimetres that’s when we’re going to have to look a bit closer.”
UPDATE 10am: Flooding is occurring in the town of Donald, with the Richardson River continuing to rise.
Water is flowing over Camp Street in the township, and a number of roads in the Buloke Shire are closed:
- Nine Mile Rd, Yuengroon
- Laen - Cope Cope Rd, Rich Avon
- Charlton Borung Rd, Barrakee
- Laen - Cope Cope Rd, Cope Cope
- Woosang - Yeungroon Rd, Woosang
- Barrakee Rd, Woosang
- Charlton Borung Rd, Charlton
- Edwards Rd, Woosang
- Charlton-St Arnaud Rd, Charlton
- Back St Arnaud Rd, Charlton
- Dew Lane, Charlton
- Baden Powell Rd, Charlton
- Back Teddy Waddy Rd, Charlton
- View St, Charlton
- Jollys Lane, Charlton
- Wright St, Charlton
- Lundly St, Charlton
- Charlton-Glenloth Rd, Charlton
- McGraft Rd, Wycheproof
- Marmal North Rd, Wycheproof
- Moresis Rd, Wycheproof
- Donald South Rd, Donald
- Camp St, Donald
- Swanwater North Rd, Cope Cope
- Gilmours Rd, Cope Cope
- Donald-Avon Plains Rd, Donald
- Byrne St, Donald
A community meeting will be held in Donald at 1pm at the Donald Public Hall, 33-35 McCulloch Street.
UPDATE 9.30am: A town meeting will be held at the Charlton Public Hall in Armstrong Street at 10am, and Premier Daniel Andrews is due to speak in the town centre at midday.
Both will be broadcast live on our Facebook page and on this page.
UPDATE 9am: The SES has confirmed no houses were impacted by floodwaters overnight in Charlton.
SES Wycheproof unit controller Cameron Arnel said the Avoca River was “holding steady” at 7.3 metres and not expected to rise any further in the short term.
“Yawong Weir went up another 200 millimetres last night but that’s not going to cause that much grief,” he said.
“It seems like a friendly river at the minute.”
Mr Arnel said while there could be no certainty the river would not continue to rise, so far the outlook was positive.
“The sun’s out and no one’s got wet,” he said.
A community meeting will be held in Charlton today at 10am (Friday) at the public hall in Armstrong Street where the relief centre is set up.
There will also be a meeting in Donald at 1pm at the Donald Public Hall, 33-35 McCulloch Street.
UPDATE 8.45am: The Richardson River in Donald had reached 3.48 metres at 6am today and is still rising.
It’s still a fair way off from the Bullock’s Head having a drink:
The Richardson River at the Rich Avon Weir was at 3.21 metres at 7.45am and falling.
UPDATE 8.25am: The Calder Highway is closed between Wycheproof South and Charlton due to flooding.
For the latest road closures and detours, click here to see the VicRoads VicTraffic map.
UPDATE 8.20am: No homes were impacted overnight in Charlton as the Avoca River holds steady at about 7.3 metres since its expected peak at 11pm.
Donald Road resident Stewart Smyth, whose home was inundated with a metre of water in the 2011 floods, said it had been a long night, but there was no damage to his property this time.
“You packed everything up and took things away and it turned out ...” he trailed off.
“But best to do that than be sorry later on.
“I suppose everybody’s on edge from the last time, because we lost everything last time.”
Another resident, Christian Coughlin, agreed the town was on edge, but said the near miss would help calm nerves.
“As soon as we got a big rain everyone started panicking a little bit, which is expected,” he said.
“I think this is really going to help the town come back to knowing that it will flood, but it’s not always going to be as bad as it was then.”
Like many locals, Mr Coughlin was pleased to see a culvert on the edge of town, which he said was only about 20 centimetres wide in 2011, extended by several metres to accommodate the rising waters.
“In January they dug a little trench that was just across the road and in 10 minutes that was full and it wasn’t doing anything to help the water,” he said.
“Whereas this time it’s been opened up completely and I think that’s what helped stop the town getting so much water in it.”
UPDATE 8am: The Avoca River in Charlton is currently at 7.30 metres and rising slowly, according to the Bureau of Meteorology.
It is expected to peak around 7.50 metres overnight today and into Saturday. The September 2010 flood peaked around 7.9 metres.
The river at Yawong Weir is showing a renewed rise above the major flood level. It is currently at 5.48 metres (major flood level 5.0 metres).
The Avoca River at Quambatook is currently at 0.50 metres and rising. A peak around the major flood level (2.4 metres) is likely during Tuesday.
The next Charlton community meeting is at 10am today (Friday) at the public hall in Armstrong Street where the relief centre is set up.
There will also be a meeting in Donald at 1pm at the Donald Public Hall, 33-35 McCulloch Street.
UPDATE 7.45am: Maryborough has had 91 millimetres of rain so far this week, 59 millimetres of which fell in the 24 hours to 9am on Wednesday.
The monthly total in September 2015 was 34.9 millimetres.
Eighty-five millimetres of rain have been recorded at Castlemaine so far this week.
The Bureau of Meteorology recorded 53 millimetres in the 24-hours to 9am on Wednesday.
Rainfall totalled 32 millimetres in September 2015.
Bendigo received 76.6 millimetres of rainfall so far this week, about 2.5 times that of the 30.6 millimetres of rain that fell in September 2015.
The 24-hours to 9am on Wednesday were the wettest, with 43.8 millimetres of rain recorded.
Charlton has had 64.6 millimetres of rain so far this week, nearing four times as much rain as the 17.2 millimetres recorded in the entire month of September 2015.
The Bureau of Meteorology recorded 31.4 millimetres of rain in the 24-hours to 9am on Wednesday.
UPDATE 7.20am: We’re still waiting on official confirmation, but it doesn’t appear any houses were impacted overnight in Charlton.
A minor flood warning also remains in place for the Campaspe River.
Community meetings
The next Charlton community meeting is at 10am today (Friday) at the public hall in Armstrong Street where the relief centre is set up.
There will also be a meeting in Donald at 1pm at the Donald Public Hall, 33-35 McCulloch Street.
UPDATE FRIDAY 7am: The Avoca River at Charlton appears to have peaked at about 7.3 metres overnight.
Last night, a straw poll of drinkers at the East Charlton Hotel shortly before the river was due to peak at 11pm reflected the generally relaxed atmosphere in the township.
Bernie Laffin, whose home "got smashed in the big one" said he was more worried about Charlton winning the weekend's grand final.
"Most of us live downhill and we wouldn’t be here if we were worried," he said.
"She's finished."
By 11.30pm there was still no sign of any threat to property and Charlton’s main street remained dry.
UPDATE 9.40pm: The SES now say they expect the Avoca River to peak at Charlton by about 11pm, but that it will cause minimal damage.
UPDATE 7.25pm: Emergency services’ two Bendigo control centres are buzzing today as the various agencies co-ordinated the state’s response to the unfolding flooding crisis across Victoria.
For incident controller John Chaplain, who was overseeing the boots-on-the-ground response from the Environment Department’s Epsom office, “primacy of life” was key.
“That’s both for residents and it’s for our responders as well,” he said.
“When someone drives into floodwaters and our people have to go in they’re putting their lives at risk, so we obviously need to make sure it’s safe for our people.
“The other thing is around communicating warnings to make sure the community are aware, that there are appropriate and timely warnings.”
Mr Chaplain said power outages were another high priority, with hundreds of homes still without electricity as flood waters continued to threaten properties in Charlton and elsewhere.
“There’s been a lot of power outages and we’ve had telecommunications issues, so critical infrastructure is high on our radar as well,” he said.
“And as we go into the relief and recovery efforts, also to make sure the displaced people are looked after, vulnerable people and so on, so it’s a range of complexity.”
Meanwhile in the Loddon Mallee Regional Control Centre, Emergency Management Victoria regional controller Rob Price and his team were helping make sure all the relevant agencies were on the same page.
“We’re co-ordinating our response across the region, so across the emergency response agencies, such as the water authorities, Powercor, the Department of Human Services, all of the local governments, tourism – everyone that has an interest in what’s happening within our region and ensuring that we keep the community informed and prepared to respond to these sorts of incidents,” he said.
For both teams, emergencies mean long, hard, complex workdays, but the the part they play in protecting their communities makes it all worthwhile.
“You sort of go into a battle rhythm and at the moment we feel that we’ve got on top of things,” Mr Chaplain said.
UPDATE 6.40pm: Hundreds of central Victorian residents are still without power and are now being advised the problem will be resolved by 8pm.
UPDATE 6.30pm: The Avoca River at Charlton is currently at 7.13 metres and rising steadily.
It is expected to peak near 7.50 metres during Friday morning.
UPDATE 6.15pm: The latest weather warning indicates major flooding is likely for the Lower Loddon River overnight Thursday.
9 am Thursday, rainfall totals have been less than 2 millimetres across the Loddon River catchment, and no significant rainfall is forecast for the remainder of Thursday, but the Loddon River at downstream Loddon Weir is at 6.7 metres and rising steadily.
The Loddon River downstream Laanecoorie is currently at 4.27 metres and falling. It should remain above the moderate flood level (3.0 metres) overnight.
UPDATE 6pm: Roads and property at Serpentine are under water.
The Loddon Valley Highway B260 is closed between Eaglehawk and Serpentine.
The Bridgewater-Serpentine Road is also closed.
UPDATE 5pm: Powercor is still hopeful power will be restored to its 7800 customers by 6.30pm.
Power has been out across the Charlton, Donald and St Arnaud areas since before 1am.
The concrete pole responsible for the fault is covered by flood water.
A workaround is in place to restore power, but residents at the end of the line most likely won’t have power back on until 7.30pm, a Powercor spokesperson said.
UPDATE 4.30pm: Bendigo Incident Control Centre public information officer Jemma Nesbit-Sackville said a number of flood warnings remain in place around the region.
“The Avoca River has exceeded the major flood level of 7 metres and is forecast to continue to rise and peak at Charlton, most likely tomorrow,” she said.
“We are monitoring when the peak is coming through Charlton and planning where that water will go as it heads downstream.”
The Buloke Shire has also been performing work on the southern side of Charlton to mitigate some of the flood waters.
Ms Nesbit-Sackville said the Loddon River still had a major flood warning in place.
“Less than 20 millimetres fell on Wednesday night into the Loddon River,” she said.
“Downstream of Laanecoorie there has minor flooding along river between Newbridge and Bet Bet Creek at Bet Bet.
“The Laanecoorie spills are subsiding and river level is going down. Laanecoorie peaked at 6.2m and is now below the major flood level of 5.5m and still falling.”
The Lower Loddon region downstream of Loddon Weir (near Bears Lagoon) is currently rising according to Ms Nesbit-Sackville.
“It is sitting at 6.2m and major flooding is likely downstream of the Loddon Weir from this afternoon,” she said.
“Lower Loddon near Appin South (and Kerang) at currently at 1.6m and rising. The river is likely to exceed minor flood level of 2.8m during Friday.”
Ms Nesbit-Sackville said the Charlton community was in good spirits at this afternoon’s community meeting.
“About 300 people attended and the community was in high spirits,” she said.
‘It was a really positive meeting with people understanding the risk of whats occurring.
Ms Nesbit-Sackville said police had spent the morning and some of this afternoon door-knocking properties that were likely to be affected by the Avoca River’s rise.
“They have been providing advice and having conversations to make sure people have a plan,” she said.
The next Charlton community meeting is at 10am on Friday at the public hall in Armstrong Street where the relief centre is set up.
There will also be a meeting in Donald at 1pm at the Donald Public Hall, 33-35 McCulloch Street.
UPDATE 4pm: The state government has indicated it will extend the availability of emergency re-establishment grants to flood-affected households in central Victoria.
The grants of up $32,500 for families whose houses suffer damage in the floods were made available to residents in the Southern Grampians yesterday.
However, Minister for Emergency Services James Merlino told parliament today that he was “sure” they would be broadened to include people in other flood-stricken areas.
The grants are available to help people whose primary place of residence is damaged in a natural disaster to secure emergency accommodation and clean, repair and rebuild homes.
Residents can already access emergency relief assistance of up to $520 per adult and $260 per child, up to a maximum of $1300 per household, to meet immediate needs, including food, clothing and shelter.
Go to www.disasterassist.gov.au and www.emergency.vic.gov.au/relief for more information.
UPDATE 3.45pm: “Victoria is wet. It’s saturated.”
Emergency management commissioner Craig Lapsley expects more towns to be impacted over the next couple of days.
Along with the Avoca River in Charlton, the Richardson River in Donald and the Wimmera River past Horsham are also being monitored.
More rain is expected early next week.
“It is a significant event. We’ve called it the ‘floods of September 2016’, which tells you we’re expecting it to be around for some time.”
Community meetings will be held in both Donald and Charlton tomorrow.
The Charlton meeting will be held at 10am at the Charlton Public Hall, 9-11 Armstrong Street.
The Donald meeting will be held at 1pm at the Donald Public Hall, 33-35 McCulloch Street.
The Buloke Shire Council has also advised the Charlton landfill will be closed tomorrow (Friday), due to road closures.
UPDATE 3.15pm: Emergency management commissioner Craig Lapsley has addressed media in relation to the widespread flooding across the state.
“The state is saturated – rivers are full, and we are now seeing most of our rivers in some sort of flood, or some sort of warning,” he said.
“Charlton is a key area today... There is potential for a small number of houses to be impacted, around about ten homes in the prediction model.”
The Avoca River will continue to rise today, with a peak of 7.5 metres expected at 8am tomorrow (Friday). This is expected to be the highest peak during this incident, but the flood water will stay at this level for about one or two days, Mr Lapsley said.
“Charlton has water around it now, it will continue to rise overnight and tomorrow we will see the peak at 7.5 metres,” he said.
One of the key issues of the day has been the power outage, which has affected almost 8000 homes in the region.
“When you don’t have power for a number of hours, it’s tolerable. When it’s out for a significant amount of time it becomes a problem in every aspect,” Mr Lapsley said.
Powercor is still hopeful power will be restored by nightfall.
Watch it here:
UPDATE 2.45pm: Another community meeting will be held in Charlton at 10am tomorrow (Friday) at the public hall.
UPDATE 2.40pm: The North Central Football League grand final will go ahead as planned at St Arnaud on Saturday.
NCFL general manager Lance Standfield confirmed the decision to the Bendigo Advertiser.
“Our information is all the roads are going to be right come Saturday,” Standfield said.
“The grand final will be going ahead as we planned on Saturday.
“The ground at St Arnaud is in good nick and the parking is all good, so we’ll now look forward to Saturday.”
UPDATE 2.30pm: Up to 400 homes will be without power in Inglewood until 4pm, as Powercor crews work to fix a fault caused by flooding.
About 7800 homes have been without power since just before 1am.
Power is estimated to be restored to customers in Charlton and surrounds by 6.30pm.
UPDATE 2.15pm: East Loddon P-12 College Year 12 students might find themselves revisiting the school during the holidays.
Principal Steve Leed said the college was closed today because of inclement weather and floodwaters.
Whether or not it will open tomorrow, on what is supposed to be the last day of term, will depend on today's conditions.
"We are waiting for further notifications about the potential to open tomorrow," Mr Leed said. Read more here.
UPDATE 2pm: Water levels at Charlton have exceeded the major flooding threshold of seven metres.
Bureau of Meteorology Senior Hydrologist Yves Bessard said the flood level was expected to peak tomorrow morning at about 7.5 metres.
In Carisbrook, flood water levels are subsiding after peaking at 4.4 metres about noon on Wednesday.
Mr Bessard said levels were closer to 2.6 metres now.
The Loddon River downstream of Laanecoorie Reservoir is also subsiding.
UPDATE 1.40pm: A town meeting in Charlton has been told a task force and many volunteers are in the town to assist as floodwater threatens the area.
Since last night, the upstream gauge has peaked and locals say water has dropped slightly.
The timeframe has come forward and the river will continue to rise and possibly peak at 11pm and into tomorrow. Water will start to fall later tomorrow and the following days.
Emergency services are planning for higher water levels, but not expecting something as big as the September 2010 event.
The gathering was told authorities are keeping an eye on the St Arnaud Road and if something more needed to be done, council would be notified.
SES says “rest when you can, it could be a long night’’.
“It’s really important you look after yourselves, look after your mates, look after anyone else you know is going to need a hand.’’
Residents were advised to take personal papers with them if they need to leave their properties, check their insurance premiums and ensure they have the appropriate insurance cover.
Victoria Police has a full police contingent in Charlton today and through the night.
Residents were told Powercor was working hard to ensure power would be restored as soon as possible.
The meeting heard the lack of power was affecting online communication issues and residents needed to be able to charge mobile phones to continue to receive important text messages.
Power boards will be set up in the hall for people to charge phones, but there will be limited capacity.
Emergency vehicles with loud speakers will be sent through the streets if urgent communication becomes necessary.
State MP Louise Staley addressed the gathering and thanked emergency services and volunteers.
She said the first thing she learnt about Charlton was about floods, and encouraged residents to listen to the advice they were being given and heed the warnings.
“If you have any difficulty at all with accessing state government services, please do not hesitate to contact my office – but I hope you don’t need to contact me,’’ she says.
“Stay safe everybody.’’
UPDATE 1pm: A community meeting is about to start at the Charlton Public Hall in Armstrong Street. We will have live coverage here and on our Facebook page (if internet reception co-operates!).
Eleven properties have been advised to evacuate, with another 80 being door-knocked and put on watch and act alert.
Flood water was expected to hit the major level at midday today and continue to increase. The peak is likely tomorrow morning.
Power is still out but is expected to be restored about 6.30pm.
Charlton has mobile coverage now through back up batteries, but Wycheproof currently does not, the Buloke Shire Council said.
Sandbagging is still occurring down the main street.
Donald is being monitored with an expectation there will be some water along Camp Street later today, the shire said. Sandbags have been prepared.
UPDATE 12.45pm: A decision on whether the North Central Football League grand final goes ahead this Saturday is expected to be made later today.
Among the competing teams on Saturday at St Arnaud is Charlton. The Navies are scheduled to take on Wycheproof-Narraport in the senior football grand final.
“The big thing we’re waiting on is the Charlton and Wycheproof people and seeing what comes of it later on today (when the Avoca River is expected to peak),” NCFL general manager Lance Standfield said .
“We expect we’ll make a decision later in the day.”
Seven of the league’s eight clubs are scheduled to be represented on Saturday.
The only club without a team in any of the football, netball or hockey is newcomers Sea Lake Nandaly. For a full list of teams competing, click here.
UPDATE 12.30pm: Powercor expects to have power back on for all affected residents by about 6.30pm today.
A workaround is in place, which will take 300-400 customers off in Inglewood for about an hour.
All going well, customers will have power restored by the end of the day, a Powercor spokesperson said.
LIVE STREAM
There have been no forced evacuations in Charlton as yet. Most residents have been through this before and everyone ‘is working together to help each other out’, the SES said during a press conference in the town.
Forecasts suggest the impact will be ‘a bit below’ that experienced in September, 2010.
“It’s a bit hard to predict exactly where the water is going to come through,’’ the SES commander said.
The SES is planning for a one in 10-year event.
The SES and Victoria Police are currently door-knocking homes to advise of the latest information.
UPDATE 12pm: Eleven houses have been evacuated as the Avoca River continues to rise in Charlton.
Police are currently door-knocking houses in Halliday and Grieves streets, telling residents to evacuate.
Residents expect flood waters to peak tomorrow.
A major flood warning remains in place for the river and power outages continue to affect the town and surrounding areas.
Powercor’s latest estimate is 6.30pm before the power is restored to more than 7000 homes.
UPDATE 11.50am: The SES has responded to more than 1000 calls for assistance over the past week and has performed 17 flood rescues, the state government said this morning.
More than 500 SES, CFA, and other emergency services personnel - volunteers and career staff - have been involved in the flood response.
Forty-four homes have been evacuated, 188 roads are closed, and 13 schools will be closed today.
Across the state, roads closed by region:
- 11 in the north-east
- 57 in the north
- 40 in the south-west
- 73 in the west
UPDATE 11.45am: Sandbagging continues in Charlton.
REMINDER: A community meeting will be held at 1pm at the Charlton Public Hall in Armstrong Street.
UPDATE 11.30am: Carisbrook residents are hopeful the worst of the flood watch is over.
Central Goldfields Shire councillor Helen Broad said Tullaroop Reservoir did not “go over” last night. It is likely to spill today, instead. Read more here.
UPDATE 11.20am: For the latest on road closures in the Buloke Shire and City of Greater Bendigo, click here.
UPDATE 11.15am: Mobile services at Boort and Lalbert are back up and running on generators.
UPDATE 11am: Powercor has located the fault causing widespread outages to more than 7000 homes, but power is unlikely to be restored any time soon.
“Debris from the floods has brought down a concrete poll in Bridgewater,” a Powercor spokesperson said. “Given the floods, we are looking at ways to bring power back on safely.”
Powercor is working with the Incident Control Centre in Bendigo to find a way to re-erect the poll, but flooding in the area still continues.
“We thank everyone for their patience while we work to safely restore power amid the flood waters to Charlton and its surrounds,” a message on the CitiPower and Powercor Australia Facebook page reads.
If you see a pole or wires down in your area please take a photo and email it to talkingelectricity@powercor.com.au
UPDATE 10.45am: Residents in Charlton are worried the Avoca River will continue to rise throughout today and inundate homes, as sandbagging continues in earnest.
Despite the concern, most are confident the town will avoid the widespread damage caused during the 2011 flood.
One resident, who lives just north of the main bridge over the Avoca, said she expected the water to run through her house and out to her front veranda.
"It got right up to the veranda in 2011, and I expect that to happen again," she said.
"A lot of people are really worried because of what happened in 2010 and 2011.
"I wouldn't want to live at the southern end of town right now."
The resident said sandbagging had little impact during the floods. Tonnes of sand has been delivered to the town, as utes and trailers continue to be filled with sandbags at the Lizard Roadhouse.
The Charlton Hospital was impacted in the 2011 flood, but it has since been demolished and moved to another part of town, not expected to be inundated.
At the Charlton weir, the water is already past fences and is starting to creep up into the car park.
Bob Shaw, who runs a recycling business on the edge of Charlton, said some works had been done in the last five years to prevent a similar situation to 2011.
His business was completely flooded during the last floods.
"I still haven't been able to clean up since," Mr Shaw said.
The heavy rainfall in recent days is expected to flow from Avoca and through Charlton, and could last several days, some residents fear.
Power outages continue to affect the town ,as well as Wedderburn, St Arnaud, Donald and Boort.
A generator is supplying power to the Charlton hall on Armstrong Street, where a relief centre has been established.
A community meeting will be held at 1pm at the Charlton Public Hall in Armstrong Street.
UPDATE 10.40am: Some people save photo albums, some save pets. Angus Lea saved his cacti.
The cactus farmer ferried his plants to safety with a kayak in Wedderburn yesterday. Read more here.
UPDATE 10.30am: A community meeting will be held at 1pm at the Charlton Public Hall in Armstrong Street.
Flood waters in Bridgewater are receding. The Incident Control Centre at Bendigo has advised waters peaked at 3am and had since dropped 200 millimetres.
UPDATE 10am: Wycheproof, Lalbert, Boort and Durham Lead are all without mobile service this morning.
Generators are en route or being setup at Birchip, Traynors Lagoon, Charlton, St Arnaud and Lalbert; and a cell on wheels is also being temporarily installed in Newstead.
Telstra area general manager Steve Tinker said the cell on wheels was being installed after concerns the mobile base station may become inundated.
“The CoW arrived yesterday, and will be setup at the Newstead Primary School,” he said “Technicians will work throughout the day to have it connected by this afternoon.”
“We have a range of measures in place to keep communications running including portable generators and backup batteries.”
Power outages in western and central Victoria were so far not having widespread effects on Telstra exchanges and mobile base stations, he said.
But for Telstra customers on the NBN, whose home phone now works through the modem, power outages mean phone lines will also be down.
“During an emergency, customers can monitor our Service Status page to help keep up to date on outages and restoration activities.”
Telstra tips for staying connected
1. Fixed line phones
Consider using a standard fixed line phone that may be more likely to continue to operate in situations of power outage.
For our customers on the NBN: It’s important to remember that if your home phone now works through the modem, if there’s a power outage, your phone line will also be down.
2. Mobile phones
Always carry an alternate way to charge your phone in case you lose mains power. An in-car charger, solar power chargers and power bank chargers are all good options.
3. Keep essential numbers close
Have a list of essential contact numbers close at hand, including local police, fire, SES and Telstra’s fixed line fault line – 13 22 03.
4. Back up your data
Make a copy of important data, photos and contact information and keep safely away from your home. In times of a disaster you don’t want to the extra stress of worrying about this information.
5. Battery powered radio
Have a battery powered radio with spare battery to listen to the emergency broadcaster.
UPDATE 9.30am: The Avoca River in Charlton has broken its banks, inundated a riverside reserve and appears to be threatening several houses on the north side.
Hundreds of tonnes of sand was delivered to the town on Wednesday night in preparation for the rising waters.
The Calder Highway on the southern approach was also covered with water, but the road remains open.
Nathan Reeves, of Reeves Earthmoving, delivered 200 tonnes of sand to the town overnight.
He said locals were preparing for conditions similar to the floods that inundated the town in 2010.
"A lot of people are worried that it's going to be similar to those levels," he said.
"The shire rang us and asked to deliver the sand.
"It's been dropped off at both ends of town, hopefully it can prevent homes and businesses from being damaged."
Mr Reeves said the conditions were similar to 2010, but did not expect the level of damage experienced in 2011.
An emergency relief centre has been established in Armstrong Street, and a town meeting is expected to be held later in the morning.
UPDATE 9am: A relief centre has opened at the Charlton Public Hall in Armstrong Street this morning.
The Avoca River is still rising and is expected to peak in the next 24 hours.
East Loddon P-12 College is also closed today.
UPDATE 8.45am: Potential for flooding is being closely monitored in Carisbrook.
The height of McCallum Creek at Carisbrook was 2.96 metres and rising at 5.45am, according to the Bureau of Meteorology.
The Loddon River downstream of Cairn Curran was at 1.27 metres and steady at 7.08am.
A Relief Centre is open at the Maryborough Sports and Fitness Centre, 40 Gillies Street Maryborough.
UPDATE 8.30am: School bus routes across the region have been impacted by flooding.
Bendigo South East College sent the following list of bus routes out to parents last night:
Open = Yes, Closed = NO
- Bus 1 – Axedale – Yes
- Bus 2 – Heathcote - Yes
- Bus 3 Heathcote Yes
- Bus 4 Heathcote Yes
- Bus 5 Emu Creek Yes
- Bus 6 Sedgwick 2 Yes but deviations
- Bus 7 Elmore yes
- Bus 8 Muskerry No
- Bus 9 Mandurang Yes with deviations
- Bus 10 Sedgwick 1 – Yes with deviations
- Bus 11 Raywood - Yes
- Bus 12 Kamarooka – Yes
- Bus 13 Yarraberb - Yes
- Bus 14 Shelbourne – No
- Bus 15 Shelbourne – No
- Bus 16 Junortoun – No
- Bus 17 – Bridgewater – No
- Bus 18 – Tarnagulla – NO
- Bus 19 – Bridgewater – No
- Bus 20 – Inglewood – No
- Bus 21 – Ravenswood – Yes
- Bus 22 – Lockwood South – No
- Bus 23 – Axedale – Yes
- Bus 24 – Emu Creek – Yes with deviations
- Bus 25 - Tolleen – Yes – assessing at Axedale
- Bus 26 – Costerfield – Yes
- Bus 27 – Marong - Yes with deviations
- Bus 28 Junortoun – Yes with deviations
- Bus 28A – Junortoun – Yes with deviations
- Bus 29 – Junortoun – Yes with deviations
- Bus 30 – Marong – Yes with deviations
- Bus 31 – Homebush – Yes with deviations
- Bus 32 - Shelbourne West – Yes with deviations
- Bus 40 – Newbridge – With Deviations and terminating at Marong
UPDATE 8.20am: The Victoria State Emergency Service Incident Control Centre in Bendigo has reiterated its pleas for motorists never to drive through flood water after three rescues on flooded roads near Newbridge.
"I believe everyone is safe and well now," Public Information Officer Jemma Nesbit-Sackville said.
"There was signage in place indicating water on the road.
"Unfortunately, we still have community members driving through these roads.
"Never drive through flood water. Obey the signs - they are in place for everyone's safety."
Natalie Stanway of Bendigo SES echoed the warning after a busy night.
The unit has had 60 requests for assistance since Tuesday, more than 40 of them flood-related.
"Six of them were rescues - some were people trapped in flood water. There were a couple of car crashes in there as well," she said.
"Do not enter flood water under any circumstance. It is simply not safe.
"You are risking your own life as well as the lives of every single person called to rescue you."
UPDATE 8.15am: Community meetings are flagged for the communities of Carisbrook, Charlton and Maryborough today.
Further information will be provided as it becomes available.
More than 70 people attended a community meeting for Bridgewater and Newbridge residents yesterday.
Watch the meetings from Bridgewater and Charlton here:
Bridgewater:
Charlton:
UPDATE 8am: The Victoria State Emergency Service Incident Control Centre in Bendigo is keeping an eye on the water level in Charlton, which is expected to peak in the next 24 hours.
Public Information Officer Jemma Nesbit-Sackville said a ground crew had been door-knocking people who might be affected by groundwater when the peak comes through.
About 7500 people were without power after a major power fault affecting Charlton, Serpentine and Wycheproof.
Ms Nesbit-Sackville said Powercor was working to fix the fault.
"We have also had a very close eye on Carisbrook, which was monitored overnight," she said.
She said a potential peak at Tullaroop Reservoir steadied out overnight.
"Today we are continuing to monitor the situation and work closely with the divisional commander and CFA in Carisbrook," Ms Nesbit-Sackville said.
UPDATE 7.30am: More than seven thousand homes are without power in the Charlton area.
A Powercor spokesperson said a fault just before 1am occurred somewhere along the 66 kV line from Bendigo, causing outages to 7800 homes.
The fault is not believed to be due to the flooding, the spokesperson said, but water over the Calder Highway is preventing crews from locating the source.
Crews may have to go by boat in order to gain access to the fault.
“We will be patrolling again this morning but it is not a typical situation in that the floods are preventing us from restoring power,” the spokesperson said.
Powercor is hoping power will be restored by midday, but would reassess the situation once the fault is located.
Locations without power include: Charlton, Birchip, Boort, Donald, St Arnaud, Wedderburn and Wycheproof.
UPDATE 7.20am: The severe weather warning has been cancelled for the entire state. Expect some showers today, but no heavy rainfall.
A minor flood warning is in place for the Campaspe River.
Many houses are without power in the north-west of the region.
UPDATE, THURSDAY 7am: Good morning. We are continuing our rolling coverage of the floods across central Victoria today.
Please let us know what the situation is like at your place – find us on social media, text or call 0475 951 617 or email ashley.fritsch@fairfaxmedia.com.au
UPDATE 8.30pm: Authorities will begin doorknocking Charlton residents who may be affected by rising floodwaters from 8am tomorrow, with river levels expected to peak by Friday.
SES chief officer Mark Cattell said emergency services had 10,000 sandbags on hand should they be required.
Mr Cattell said the flooding would be less severe than the town experienced in September 2010, but could be worse than that of November 2010.
In the worst case scenario he said the river could reach as high as 7.8 metres with the major flood threshold of 7.3 metres expected to be reached by midday on Thursday.
Properties on Rutherford, Orr, High, Kaye and Watson streets are expected to be among those affected.
The NCCMA's Camille White said water was generally expected to be contained to the river but some properties which backed on to it could be threatened.
"There might be some properties which may be affected but obviously we'll be working closely with those land owners who may be affected," she said.
UPDATE 6pm: Several dozen concerned residents assembled at the Bridgewater Football Club rooms for a community rainfall update from authorities this afternoon, joined by hundreds of viewers online.
North Central Catchment Management Authority floodplain manager Camille White used the meeting to allay concerns the town would see a return of the type of flooding which devastated the community in 2011.
"Just to put everyone's mind at ease, we are not expecting anything near the 2011 flood," she said.
"At the moment there's 53,000 megalitres per day going out of Laanecoorie [Reservoir] , so to put that in perspective what that means for you - it's the equivalent of a little bit less than what we saw in September 2010."
State Emergency Service assistant chief officer Mark Cattell said if the worst did eventuate, emergency services were ready to spring into action.
"I know there's probably a lot of nervous people here but I want you to rest assured that we've got support," he said.
"We've got the CFA brigades and the local SES units ready in the background to support whatever the community needs between now and whatever happens."
Ms White said the river at Bridgewater would continue to rise throughout the night.
"It takes about eight to 10 hours to get from Laanecoorie to here so as that peaks it's going to be the morning before it actually peaks here," she said.
"So you can expect some pretty high river all through the night and into tomorrow."
Some residents expressed a level of confusion about how to access timely information on the unfolding situation, with a text message alerting them of the meeting only going out 10 minutes after it was scheduled to start.
UPDATE 5.45pm: The Buloke Shire has closed the Charlton-St Arnaud Road as they work to cut a temporary floodway.
A detour is running through the Back St Arnaud Road.
UPDATE 5.20pm: Peta Lloyd captured these videos of the rescue near Bet Bet earlier this afternoon.
Two people had to be winched from the roof of their vehicle after it became submerged in floodwater on the Maryborough-Dunolly Road.
One of the rescued people was taken to Maryborough hospital, but an Ambulance Victoria spokesperson said there were no reports of serious injuries.
UPDATE 4.55pm: We've added more road closures to our list of flood-affected areas. There's also been some streets reopen, too. All the latest here.
UPDATE 4.10pm: A community meeting at Bridgewater has heard emergency services expect flooding to be similar to levels in 2010.
UPDATE 4pm: Two people have been rescued by helicopter after their car became submerged in floodwater near Bet Bet this afternoon.
The pair waited on the roof of their utility vehicle for Bendigo's air ambulance to winch them to safety about 2.30pm.
One of the rescued people was taken to Maryborough hospital, but an Ambulance Victoria spokesperson said there were no reports of serious injuries.
UPDATE 3.30pm: Carisbrook residents gathered at the town's fire station were told one fact, with certainty: Tullaroop reservoir will spill at some point within the next 12 hours.
How much it will spill, and what the impact will be, is less certain.
After steadily rising, Deep Creek is fluctuating and had dropped marginally when emergency services addressed the public about 2.30pm.
UPDATE 3pm: At a state level, one town has been evacuated and landslides have forced closures along the Great Ocean Road as Mother Nature wreaks havoc across Victoria.
The Great Ocean Road, between Deans Marsh Road in Lorne and View Road in Eastern View, is closed due to landslips and fallen trees.
Water is spilling over the Grange Burn levee in Hamilton, where homes have been evacuated. Residents of almost 50 homes surrounding it have been found safe and sound, the State Emergency Service says.
The SES has received almost 400 calls for help from across Victoria since midnight on Tuesday, with 203 of those calls about flooding.
"Our main concern is keeping an eye on the waters rising in the west of the state," the spokeswoman said. "We're also keeping an eye on the Great Ocean Road area, after a landslide there."
UPDATE 2.40pm: Bendigo's air ambulance has been dispatched to a "water-related incident" near Dunolly, Ambulance Victoria has confirmed.
The emergency service received the call at 1.45pm this afternoon.
UPDATE 2.30pm: Community meetings will be held in Bridgewater and Charlton this afternoon and evening in relation to flooding.
The meeting in Bridgewater will be held at 4pm at the Bridgewater Football Club rooms, Calder Highway.
The meeting in Charlton will be held at 7pm at the Charlton Public Hall, 9-11 Armstrong Street.
Before traveling to this meeting, please check www.vicroads.vic.gov.au or call 13 11 70 for any road closures.
Road Safety
- Be aware of road hazards such as mud, debris and damaged roads or bridges
- Do not travel through affected areas unless it is necessary
- Drive slowly, obey all roadblocks and never drive through floodwater
Safety Information
- Check your home or building for damage before you re-enter
- If your home has been flooded, all electrical and gas appliances should be checked by a licensed technician before you use them
- Dry out and clean buildings straight away
- When cleaning up, wear strong boots, gloves and protective clothing and wash your hands and clothes regularly
- Floodwater is dangerous - never drive, walk or ride through floodwater
- Floodwater is toxic - never drive, walk or ride through floodwater
UPDATE 2pm: The Loddon River at Bridgewater is flowing strongly, but local man Bryan Ryan says property owners needn't be too concerned just yet.
"It's still within its banks, when you see it lapping the bottom of the bridge it's a bit of a worry," he said.
But Mr Ryan said it was the most rain he'd seen since the 2011 floods and could pose a threat to farmland.
"It probably won't do anything like what it did in 2011," he said.
"[But] it'll do a lot of damage to the crops."
UPDATE 1.30pm: Carisbrook is a town on tenterhooks.
As rain continues to fall, residents are unsure whether they will again be faced with floods like those of 2011.
Emergency services are meeting at Carisbrook Fire Station at 2pm to discuss their plan for the evening.
Deep Creek has risen since the Bendigo Advertiser arrived in Carisbrook this morning, and Carisbrook Fire Brigade believes Tullaroop Reservoir is likely to overflow.
Ian Boucher, Captain of the Carisbrook Fire Brigade, said units had been monitoring the situation since 7pm last night.
The CFA will know before nightfall whether to alert residents there could be an impending flood event - earlier, if circumstances change.
"That's not an evacuation, it's just to give people information about what's happening," Captain Boucher said.
"It's up to them to decide what they want to do."
An evacuation centre will be established in Maryborough, if necessary.
Captain Boucher said the most recent flood, in January 2011, inundated about 273 homes.
"It's mainly localised flooding at the moment," he said.
The brigade's primary concerns are McCallum Creek, which is at capacity, and Tullaroop Reservoir, which is filling fast.
UPDATE 1.15pm: Major flooding is occurring along the Loddon River, with the Bet Bet Creek at Bet Bet above the major flood level and rising.
The Loddon River at Newstead has also reached the major flood level and is still rising.
Major flooding is occurring in Bet Bet Creek, and is likely to develop in the Loddon River downstream of Laanecoorie Reservoir, the warning reads.
Major flooding is also likely along the Loddon River Laanecoorie to Loddon Weir.
Flood Safety Advice
SES advises that all community members should:
- Never walk, ride or drive through floodwater,
- Never allow children to play in floodwater,
- Stay away from waterways and stormwater drains during and after heavy rain,
- Keep well clear of fallen power lines
- Be aware that in fire affected areas, rainfall run-off into waterways may contain debris such as ash, soil, trees and rocks, and heavy rainfall increases the potential for landslides and debris across roads.
Current Emergency Information is available at emergency.vic.gov.au
For emergency assistance contact the SES on 132 500.
Current road and traffic information is available at the VicRoads website.
UPDATE 1.10pm: Bendigo Senior Secondary College is warning students and parents that school bus routes have been affected by the flooding:
UPDATE 1pm: In Carisbrook, which was torn apart by floods five years ago, the community is taking all of the precautions possible to ensure there isn't another inundation.
"Mother nature has a way of doing its own thing, whether we like it or not, so we will have to wait and see," Maryborough ward councillor Paula Nixon said.
"Because of what happened here in 2011 the people are very nervous and frightened," she said.
"Everyone is on the ball in case anything happens, nobody is panicking this time but last time it snuck up on everybody."
Schools buses were forced to turn around this morning, and several schools in the area have closed, including two in Carisbrook.
With sandbags in hand the community is out door-knocking to make sure the town's 700 people know what could happen if the dam and creek were to flood the streets.
"In last two or three days the water has been building and because we have two creeks that feed in, from the south west, once the water starts to feed into our big dam and creek is when it gets bad," Cr Nixon said.
"Preventative measures have been put in place but other than that we have to hope it doesn't get as bad last time, last time Carisbrook was absolutely devastated.
"There's a lot of residents out digging drains, clearing drains everybody's trying their best to make sure we don't go down that same path."
A relief centre for people affected by flood waters was set up in the closest major town, Maryborough, at 4am inside the town's sports and leisure centre.
By 10.30am today the SES had received hundreds of calls from around the state.
A lot of the calls for assistance have come from the western part of Victoria, which has been hammered by rain in recent days leading to high rivers and flooding.
Cr Nixon echoed the thoughts by much of sodden Victoria.
"At this point it's a wait and watch situation," she said "The fire brigade, SES and the council are all monitoring, residents have been door knocked and warned everyone."
- Emily Woods
UPDATE 12.50pm: Residents in Castlemaine and surrounds are bracing for more rain and potential flash flooding.
Campbell's Creek Primary School has sent their students home as a precautionary measure.
There has been no flooding or water damage to the school.
Forest and Barkers creeks have merged into Campbell's Creek and made it fast flowing.
Roads to and from Newstead are closed with the Loddon River overflowing and cutting off the road to Maryborough.
On the other side of Newstead, Muckleford Creek has overflown and forced the road to Castlemaine closed.
Muckleford Creek is also threatening to overflow on the Maldon to Castlemaine road.
As of 12.30pm the road was still open but patches of water on it mean drivers should take care.
UPDATE 12.45pm: There are reports Marong Road, headed into Marong, has closed. Click here for more road closures.
UPDATE 12.20pm: Flooding at Strathdale Park has put the soccer fields underwater.
It appears more water is flowing down from the Kennington Reservoir end of the park.
UPDATE 11.20am: The Bureau of Meteorology has cancelled its warnings for the Central, South West, Northern Country and North Central districts after severe weather has ended.
But the bureau is still predicting wind gusts between 50 and 60 kilometres per hour over northern parts of the Mallee district this afternoon.
SES advice remains the same, asking people to:
- Move vehicles under cover or away from trees;
- Secure or put away loose items around your house, yard and balcony;
- Keep clear of fallen power lines;
- Don't walk, ride or drive through flood water;
- Keep clear of creeks and storm drains;
- Be aware that in fire affected areas, rainfall run-off into waterways may contain debris such as ash, soil, trees and rocks;
- Be alert that in areas recently affected by fires, heavy rainfall increases the potential for landslides and debris across roads;
The next bureau warning is due to be issued by 4:45 pm.
UPDATE 11.15am: Carisbrook residents have said rains in their central Victorian town have not yet caused the type of damage sustained during floods in 2011.
Alistair Dowie, whose family had long lived in Carisbrook, described 2011's weather event as "massive", with hundreds of homes inundated by floodwater.
While he believed some sandbagging had happened in the township, flooding had not wreaked the sort of havoc that saw sections of pavement washed away and debris knock down fencing around the town's recreation complex.
"Two metres of water, it was just horrendous for the town, and a lot of people are probably still suffering from that mentally," Mr Dowie said.
UPDATE 10.40am: Rains in one central Victorian town this week have rewritten the record books.
Since Sunday, 80 millimetres have fallen in Wedderburn, making it the wettest three-day period the town has seen since 1916.
A Bureau of Meteorology spokesperson also said Bendigo was experiencing above-average rainfall for this time of year.
The city has seen 64 millimetres of rain in the past 48 hours. The average September rainfall is just 49.9 millimetres.
It's been a wet two days for Castlemaine, where 70 millimetres of rain has been recorded since 9am, Monday.
But Maryborough measurements were even higher, with the weather bureau saying 77.8 millimetres had fallen there in the past two days.
The Campaspe River at Redesdale has received 54 millimetres in that time.
The wet weather is not over yet, with a bureau spokesperson explaining another 10 to 15 millimetres of rain was expected for Bendigo and surrounds during the afternoon and evening today.
Lighter showers will sprinkle the region in the coming days.
UPDATE 10.30am: It’s been a busy morning for Trent Brister near Laanecoorie today.
Flooded roads meant he was unable to get to work this morning –and it was a fortunate thing, too, for students in a school bus that found itself unable to pass through inundated Bendigo-Maryborough Road.
Trent helped the bus out of its predicament, much to the relief of the children on board.
The road is now closed.
UPDATE 10.20am: The driveway to Nikita Charlton's home and remedial massage business on the corner of Ligar St and the highway in Huntly is flooded.
She and her husband woke this morning to find heavy overnight rain had pooled on the nature strip.
"It has never been like this before," she said.
"We've always been able to drive out our driveway but last night was really crazy."
Water is flowing over the road on Ligar Street, with parts completely submerged.
Mrs. Charlton hoped the water would recede by the afternoon when her first clients arrived, otherwise she would need to be ready to wave them in.
UPDATE 10.10am: Flood water is moving across both ends of Somerset Park Road in Junortoun. Katherine Howell says her mum, who has lived in the area for just over 20 years, has never seen it so flooded.
UPDATE 10am: Staff members from Coliban Water are investigating pools of water at the side of the highway in Huntly.
Water covers the road at the Huntly fire station. It is too deep for a car to access the station, but not for a truck.
UPDATE 9.50am: More from Tom O’Callaghan on the flooding in Evergreen Boulevard in Jackass Flat:
Bruce Jones, who lives in a house overlooking the pond, says it is the first time it’s flooded since he moved in last July.
He’s not worried about his house flooding.
"I was more concerned about getting to work this arvo," he said.
Mr Jones was in Shepparton during the floods in 1987.
"In that flood the water came up through the drains because it was backing up from the river. It was the same here with the creek," he said.
"As you can see the water has washed away now. It looks like someone's got in and done something to (the pipes)."
UPDATE 9.45am: The Loddon Valley Highway is flooded at Campbell's Forest - thanks Chelsea Harrington for letting us know.
There is also some road damage on the Calder between Ravenswood and the Castlemaine exit – drive safely if you’re in the area.
VicRoads has also closed Bendigo-Maryborough Road at Eddington, due to flooding.
For all VicRoads road closures, click here.
UPDATE 9.30am: A relief centre for people affected by flood waters has been set up in Maryborough.
A Central Goldfields shire spokeswoman said the centre opened about 4am this morning inside the town's sports and leisure centre.
Red Cross members are at the scene.
The spokeswoman did not know how many people had accessed the centre but said the number would increase if waters continued to rise in nearby Carisbook.
That town's primary school sent families a text message this morning asking students to stay at home.
Principal Barbara Wilson said the decision was made on the advice of local emergency workers.
She hoped students spent the day playing, "an important part of learning too".
While she was not aware of other schools in the region that had closed, she expected many central Victorian teachers would be unable to travel to work because of floodwater.
Many students travelling between Maldon and Castlemaine were unable to reach their schools today when six Castlemaine Bus Lines services were cancelled.
Bat Creek waters blocked several roads in and out of the central Victorian town, a bus company spokesman said, leaving students at home.
The Central Goldfields shire offices have also been inundated overnight, and an emergency services control centre has been set up inside Maryborough's old Centrelink building.
UPDATE 9.25am: The Bendigo SES unit has responded to about 20 jobs since 3am as a result of the heavy rain and flooding.
Spokeswoman Natalie Stanway said the jobs mostly related to fallen trees, building damage and flooding of homes.
Ms Stanway said there were also a lot of roads in the area that were flooded and impassable.
The school bus service at Maldon has reportedly been cancelled today as a result.
Ms Stanway urged people to slow down, be careful and never enter floodwaters.
“Thankfully (we have) not been called to any rescues, and we want it to stay that way,” she said.
Bendigo SES will be holding an information session at 7pm tonight at its headquarters at 64 Adam Street, Golden Square, for people interested in volunteering with the organisation.
Ms Stanway said people should keep up-to-date with road closures and other flood information on the Vic Emergency and VicRoads websites.
UPDATE 9.20am: The City of Greater Bendigo will be listing road closures on its Facebook page today.
The following roads are closed so far due to flooding:
- Fairway Drive, Epsom
- Diamond Hill Road - near Nankervis Road
- Averys Road at Jobs Gully Road, Eaglehawk
- Scott Street, White Hills
- Browning Street, Kangaroo Flat - between High Street and McKenzie Street West
- Bay Street, Golden Square - between High Street and McKenzie Street West
UPDATE 9am: An unoccupied Holden sedan, with P-plates displayed, is stuck in floodwaters in Homebush Drive, Junortoun. No one was trapped, an SES spokesperson said.
Scott Street in White Hill is not submerged by water but there's enough coming down the creek for it to be closed as a precaution.
There’s also plenty of water around Raywood this morning, with Maree Mclean sharing these photos (click through the gallery to see more).
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UPDATE 8.25am: A moderate flood warning is current for the Loddon River and a minor flood warning is current for the Avoca River.
REMINDER – SES advises that all community members should:
- Never walk, ride or drive through floodwater,
- Never allow children to play in floodwater,
- Stay away from waterways and stormwater drains during and after heavy rain,
- Keep well clear of fallen power lines
- Be aware that in fire affected areas, rainfall run-off into waterways may contain debris such as ash, soil, trees and rocks, and heavy rainfall increases the potential for landslides and debris across roads.
UPDATE 8.15am: A number of roads across the region are closed this morning due to flooding.
The Pyrenees Highway is closed between Chewton and Elphinstone, and at Muckleford Creek near Bassett Road, due to flooding.
The Wimmera Highway is flooded at Murphys Creek, between Moliagul and Tarnagulla. The highway is closed and detours are via Dunolly using the Bridgewater-Dunolly and Dunolly-Moliagul roads.
UPDATE 8am: Water is blocking the roads to Jackass Flat housing estate.
Evergreen Waters has rain water on the lawns and over the road outside its signage.
Several other roads in the area have water running alongside, but beware – there is a distinct smell of sewage in some areas.
UPDATE WEDNESDAY 7.20am: Rain has continued to fall across the region overnight.
Victoria State Emergency Service spokesman Stefan Delatovic said SES volunteers were doorknocking the homes of Carisbrook residents at risk overnight as river levels rose.
“Thankfully, so far the river hasn’t reached the level it was feared to,” Mr Delatovic said.
“To my understanding, nobody has been evacuated.”
He asked that people have a plan in place for if they encountered flooding.
For those heading to work this morning, Mr Delatovic asked that people drive to conditions, look out for hazards and avoid driving into flood water.
“Driving into flood water is a really dangerous thing to do, and we ask people never to do it.”
The Bureau of Meteorology has issued a severe weather warning for damaging winds and heavy rainfall for the Northern Country, North Central, North East and parts of the Central, East Gippsland and South West Forecast Districts.
Heavy rain might lead to flash flooding.
Rain is expected to contract to the east and ease by late morning.
Widespread 24 hours rainfall totals of 20 to 50 mm were forecast across the warning area, with isolated higher falls of 60 to 70mm possible.
The Bureau of Meteorology warned thunderstorms might also result in heavier falls.
Damaging winds, averaging 50 to 60 kilometres per hour with peak gusts to 90 to 100 kilometres per hour are possible over alpine parts of the North Central district today.
Winds are expected to ease by late this morning, but might redevelop this evening.
Bendigo is among the locations that might be affected.
A little shout out for our SES and other emergency services who worked through the night and continue to do so, today.
UPDATE Tuesday 8.15pm: The SES advises those who come across flood waters should:
- Never walk, ride or drive through floodwater,
- Never allow children to play in floodwater,
- Stay away from waterways and stormwater drains during and after heavy rain,
- Keep well clear of fallen power lines
- Be aware that in fire affected areas, rainfall run-off into waterways may contain debris such as ash, soil, trees and rocks, and heavy rainfall increases the potential for landslides and debris across roads.
Current Emergency Information is available at http://emergency.vic.gov.au
For emergency assistance contact the SES on 132 500.
Current Road and Traffic Information is available at the VicRoads website: http://traffic.vicroads.vic.gov.au/
UPDATE 5.18pm: The weather bureau is reporting fails of up to 33 millimetres in the Loddon River catchment since 9am Monday.
The latest report shows the river continues to rise in a number of locations.
Latest River Heights:
- Location Height of River (m) Tendency Date/Time of Observation
- Loddon River at Vaughan 2.09 Rising 02:42 PM TUE 13/09/16
- Jim Crow Creek at Yandoit 2.26 Rising 04:45 PM TUE 13/09/16
- Muckleford Creek at Muckleford North 2.36 Steady 04:30 PM TUE 13/09/16
- Loddon River at Newstead 2.25 Rising 04:45 PM TUE 13/09/16
- Middle Creek at Rodborough 2.54 Rising 04:30 PM TUE 13/09/16
- Loddon River D/S Cairn Curran 0.07 Steady 02:45 PM TUE 13/09/16
- Creswick Creek at Clunes 2.12 Steady 02:30 PM TUE 13/09/16
- Birch Creek at Smeaton 1.38 Falling 04:30 PM TUE 13/09/16
- Tullaroop Creek at Tullaroop Res HG 217.38 Rising 04:30 PM TUE 13/09/16
- Tullaroop Creek at Tullaroop Res (Outlet) 0.04 Steady 04:45 PM TUE 13/09/16
- McCallum Creek at Carisbrook 2.66 Rising 04:45 PM TUE 13/09/16
- Bet Bet Creek at Bet Bet 2.81 Rising 04:45 PM TUE 13/09/16
- Loddon River D/S Laanecoorie 1.39 Steady 04:45 PM TUE 13/09/16
- Loddon River at Serpentine Weir 1.58 Steady 04:45 PM TUE 13/09/16
- Loddon River D/S Loddon Weir 2.74 Rising 04:45 PM TUE 13/09/16
- Loddon River at Appin South 0.53 Steady 04:45 PM TUE 13/09/16
- Mt Hope Creek at Mitiamo 0.37 Steady 04:45 PM TUE 13/09/16
UPDATE 4.45pm: The Bureau of Meteorology has issued another severe weather warning for a number of districts across Victoria, including Bendigo.
The bureau warns of heavy rain which may lead to flash flooding on Tuesday evening and Wednesday morning.
Falls of up to 70 millimetres could be possible in the coming 24 hours, along with thunderstorms.
The rain is expected to ease by midday on Wednesday.
In the 31 hours up to 4pm today, Charlton had received 37 millimetres of rain, and Gisborne had received 39 millimetres.
The two towns were in the top five for highest rainfall totals in Victoria on Tuesday.
VicRoads is advising motorists to be mindful of water across the road.
UPDATE 4.15pm: Racing Victoria has announced that race meetings scheduled for Bendigo and Geelong this week will be moved because of the weather.
RV stewards inspected the Bendigo track at 1pm today, and the decision was made in conjunction with the Bendigo Jockey Club to transfer tomorrow’s Bendigo meeting to Pakenham.
The Bendigo track has received 27ml of rain since midnight with rain continuing to fall, taking the total rainfall during the past seven days to 55ml and rendering the surface unsuitable for racing tomorrow.
With no turf options in the region available to take the transferred meeting, it will now become the third meeting in five days – alongside the weekend double-header on Saturday and Sunday - to be run on the Synthetic track at Racing.com Park.
As a result of the transfer, several program amendments have been made to the eight-race card. Changes can be found here.
UPDATE 3pm: The BIG4 Bendigo Marong Holiday Park has a new water feature this afternoon after 30 millimetres of rain left a steady stream flowing between the cabins.
Park owner Brett Peters said the stream had enveloped the footing of an en suite, cutting off access to two customers.
“It’s nothing overly dramatic,” he said.
“[But] we’ve given them free accommodation until such time as it subsides, so there is a financial impact.”
Mr Peters said the stream flowed a couple of times a year, but today’s downpour was the “about the wettest I’ve seen it”.
He said the worst of the flooding had subsided by about 2pm.
“[Two cabins] were a bit marooned first thing this morning,” he said.
“I was starting to get a bit nervous there about an hour ago.”
UPDATE 11.30am: A severe weather warning remains in place for the region, with the Bureau of Meteorology still forecasting heavy rainfall which may lead to flash flooding.
The severe weather, including heavy rainfall of up to 70mm, is forecast for much of the state, with people in the Mallee and parts of the Central, South West, Northern Country, North Central and Wimmera Forecast Districts expected to cop the worst of it.
"There is a real risk of flash flooding today - the areas around Horsham are still of particular concern but really, if we get isolated heavy falls anywhere, there is a risk of flooding,” an SES spokesman said this morning.
"So it's important that people go about their normal business today but understand that risk, have a plan and know where to go in case of an emergency."
UPDATE 11am: The heavy rain has flooded many roads in Bendigo and its surrounds, with motorists having to be extra careful. Amanda Anderson took this video on Wilkie Road, Junortoun.
UPDATE 9.30am: Bendigo SES has started to receive call-outs as a result of the wet weather.
Natalie Stanway said most reports were so far related to building damage, such as leaking roofs.
With flood watches and warnings in place across central Victoria, Ms Stanway said people should never enter floodwater, whether they were walking, on a bicycle or in a vehicle.
She also urged people to keep an eye on warnings and weather updates.
Wilkie Road at Junortoun has water over it at present.
UPDATE 8.30am: Bendigo has now received 19 millimetres since 9am yesterday as rain continues to drench central Victoria.
Bureau of Meteorology forecaster Peter Newham said it was expected to rain throughout the day, with heavy falls later on.
A flood warning for the Loddon River has been updated, with the river downstream of Laanecoorie at 1.3 metres and steady.
But it is likely to exceed the minor flood level of 1.5 metres by Tuesday afternoon and may reach the moderate flood level of three metres overnight.
Mr Newham said the rain would ease on Wednesday morning, but showers were still likely with a chance of a thunderstorm in the afternoon.
EARLIER: A severe weather warning and flood warnings have been issued for central Victoria.
Severe weather warning
The Bureau of Meteorology said heavy rain, which could lead to flash flooding, was possible over parts of the Mallee, Northern Country, Wimmera, North Central, Central and Southwest districts during Tuesday.
Widespread 24 hours rainfall totals of 20 to 50 millimetres are forecast across western Victoria, with isolated higher falls of 60 to 70mm possible.
Thunderstorms might also result in heavier falls.
Bendigo, Maryborough, Castlemaine, Daylesford and Swan Hill are among the areas likely to be affected.
The Bureau of Meteorology recorded 16.6 millimetres of rain until 7.30am on Tuesday.
The State Emergency Service advises that people should:
* Not walk, ride or drive through flood water;
* Keep clear of creeks and storm drains;
* Be aware that in fire affected areas, rainfall run-off into waterways may contain debris such as ash, soil, trees and rocks;
* Be alert that in areas recently affected by fires, heavy rainfall increases the potential for landslides and debris across roads.
Flood Warnings
Renewed river rises and flooding are expected with the forecast rainfall, emergency services have warned.
Significant river rises are expected for the Campaspe, Loddon, Avoca and Wimmera rivers.
Moderate to major flooding is possible from Tuesday onwards.
LODDON RIVER CATCHMENT: Tributaries of the Loddon River upstream of Laanecoorie Reservoir are expected to rise, which could lead to areas of minor flooding.
Moderate flooding is likely along the Loddon River from Laanecoorie to Loddon Weir.
The Loddon River downstream of Laanecoorie was at 1.25 metres when the warning was issued on Monday night, and rising.
Outflows from Laanecoorie Reservoir were expected to increase due to the forecast rainfall.
The river level is likely to reach the moderate flood level of three metres during Tuesday.
AVOCA RIVER: Minor flooding is occurring along the Avoca River to Charlton Town.
The Avoca River to Charlton is at 4.08 metres, well above the minor flood level of 3.5 metres, and is rising.
Potential Impact In Your Area
The potential local impact of this flooding in your area may include:
- Main roads may be closed and low bridges may be underwater
- Floodwater may cover low-lying areas
- Floodwater may surround some properties or enter homes
- Some homes and businesses may be cut-off by floodwater
What You Should Do
- Act quickly - conditions can change rapidly
- Farmers should move machinery and livestock to higher ground if it is safe to do so
- Tune in to your emergency broadcasters: ABC local radio, commercial radio and designated community radio stations, or SKY NEWS television
- If you are likely to become isolated, make sure you have enough food, drinking water, medications and pet food
- If possible, make sure your family and neighbours are aware of the situation
- Floodwater is dangerous - never drive, walk or ride through floodwater
- Floodwater is toxic - never play or swim in floodwater
Emergency Contacts
- For flood or storm emergency assistance from the SES call 132 500
- For life-threatening emergencies call Triple Zero (000)