Victoria, NSW And Tasmania Experience Flood Emergency with Thousands Told to Evacuate

By Staff, Agencies

Thousands of residents have been told to evacuate as eastern Australia faces a flooding emergency, with people told to leave their homes in parts of Victoria, New South Wales and Tasmania.

“Major to record flooding is occurring or forecast on many rivers across Victoria and Tasmania,” the Bureau of Meteorology said on Friday afternoon. “Moderate to major flooding is still occurring along a number of rivers in inland New South Wales.”

There were dozens of evacuation orders in place across the three states on Friday evening.

Hundreds of Victorians were evacuated from their homes and hundreds more were cut off as widespread flooding ravaged the state.

Evacuation orders were in place on Friday evening for Skinners Flat near Wedderburn, low-lying parts of Benalla on the Broken River gateway, Murchison along the Goulburn River, south-west of Shepparton, Maribyrnong in Melbourne and the town of Charlton.

The Avoca River at Charlton was forecast to peak on Saturday afternoon with the SES expecting flooding to be similar to 2010 when 40 properties were affected.

A dam failure at the Skinners Flat Reservoir in the Victorian goldfields was likely to bring nearly a metre of strong, fast-moving waters through the Wedderburn township, authorities warned.

About 70 residents were told to leave Maribyrnong in Melbourne with a fresh evacuation order issued on Friday afternoon.

Anglers Tavern, on the banks of the Maribyrnong River, was partially submerged after unprecedented overnight rain.

“At this stage, we don’t have access to it,” a spokesperson said. “Obviously there has been flood damage to the venue and we’ll assess that once we have access – hopefully tomorrow depending on the weather.”

The federal Labor MP for Maribyrnong, Bill Shorten, said the situation was devastating.

“It’s really upsetting for residents in my local community,” Shorten told reporters on Friday. “These are areas where I’ve lived for the last 30 years. The last big floods were in 1974, so for a lot of people this would be a new and devastating experience.”

The state’s opposition leader, Matthew Guy, called on the government to declare an official state of emergency.

An emergency alert for residents of Rochester along the Campaspe River to evacuate immediately was in place, with about 1,000 properties expected to be inundated or isolated.

Many in Rochester had sandbagged their properties and left town but some stayed to protect their businesses, motel owner Meagan Keating said.

“We’re now just watching the water come towards us,” Keating said. “The anxiety is high … [because] as quick as the water is moving, it is a slow process, watching it come.”

The SES had responded to more than 1,850 requests for help in 24 hours and rescued at least 200 people across the state in two days.

One person was reported missing in central Victoria on Friday but police later announced a man was rescued after he ignored a roadblock and drove into floodwaters at Newbridge. His vehicle was washed downstream and he managed to climb onto a tree branch, police said.

The premier, Daniel Andrews, urged people to heed warnings and not drive into flood waters.