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IF the bullock’s head in the Richardson River is submerged, then it’s a sure way to know that the town of Donald is experiencing a big soaking.
Fortunately – despite rising water throughout the week – the popular flood marker remained above the water level on Friday, but some of the town’s streets were not as lucky.
Camp Street, on Donald’s southern fringe, was cut off in the morning as water levels reached 3.4 metres in the Richardson River.
Jono Ingram, who runs The Donald Weather Station Facebook page, was out of town as the waters approached.
Despite watching from afar, he said the waters appeared to be relatively steady.
“It’s looking like the river hasn’t really risen since 6am on Friday, but it’s likely to be a little banked up further along so I wouldn’t be surprised if it rose a little more,” Mr Ingram said.
“The Camp Street bridge looks like it’s been closed off.”
Buloke Shire Council held a town meeting at the Donald Memorial Hall at 1pm where residents received the latest information on flood modeling, emergency relief and the possibility of state government grant funding for property damage.
Like many other towns in Buloke and Loddon shires, Donald was also impacted heavily during the floods of January 2011.
The township of Charlton was evacuated to Donald during the floods.
The town also experienced widespread flooding in September 2010.]
The bullock’s head was destroyed in a storm, but was rebuilt in the Richardson River with a concrete base.