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.
Victoria
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.
New South Wales
Hundreds of residents have been evacuated and teachers are being driven to work in fire trucks as the effects of major flooding are felt across central NSW.
About 250 properties were subject to evacuation or isolation orders in Forbes after the Lachlan River crept up to its major flooding mark on Friday morning. The orders affected about 550 people in the town of 8,000, the SES said.
While water was not expected to enter classrooms, Forbes Public school was ordered to close.
Norm Haley, from Forbes Community Mens’ Shed, said some farmers had been isolated for weeks after water flooded their driveways. “The big worry is what’s still up in the heavens – that hasn’t fallen yet,” Haley said.
Teachers at Bedgerabong Public School in the village east of Forbes had been driven to work by Rural Fire Service volunteers for weeks to get them through flooded roads.
“The road surface is absolutely cut up. It’s not potholes anymore – it’s craters,” casual teacher Helen Pitt said. “The roads have been underwater for a long time.”
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Heavy rain and burst creeks have saturated rural properties surrounding the village for months, with farmers losing crops or unable to sow them.
Elsewhere, the cotton town of Wee Waa was again isolated, with an SES high-clearance truck delivering bread and milk. People in three areas of the Riverina city of Wagga Wagga remained under evacuation orders issued earlier in the week.
“Fortunately, the Murrumbidgee River peaked on Thursday and we’re starting to see the flood waters decline in those areas,” SES spokesman Andrew Edmunds said.
Tasmania
Flood-hit communities in north and north-west Tasmania entered a “danger period” as waters rose, with evacuation orders issued for areas along several rivers and parts of Launceston.
Heavy rain that began on Wednesday night started to ease on Friday morning but records were broken with the Great Lake region registering 398mm in about a day.
Evacuation orders were in place for people living along the swollen Mersey and Meander rivers, downstream of Lake Isandula dam and in the Launceston suburb of Newstead.
There was also a move-to-higher-ground emergency warning for the St Patricks River.
“This is actually the danger period – our messaging to the Tasmanian public at this point in time is don’t be complacent,” SES acting director Leon Smith told the ABC. “All of that rain that’s fallen at the higher altitudes still needs to make its way down through the riverine systems. This flooding will be sustained.”
Emergency services rescued a family of six who became isolated on their property, while a man and woman were helped to safety after driving through flood waters in their 4WD.
“Just because you’re in a larger vehicle, doesn’t mean the flood waters won’t either sweep you away or stop your vehicle,” Tasmania police assistant commissioner Jonathan Higgins said.
Authorities warned river peaks in some parts could reach levels seen in mid-2016 when flooding claimed three lives and caused $180m worth of damage.
The Bureau of Meteorology predicted record highs for the Meander and Macquarie rivers.
The north copped 50-150mm of rain – in places breaking October daily records that had stood for more than a century.
Peter Freshney, mayor of Latrobe Council, which sits along the Mersey River, said some properties had been inundated ahead of an expected flood peak later on Friday.
“At this stage [the flood level is] below 2016. We’ll see what happens when the peak arrives. There’s still a bit of anxiety about that’s for sure,” he said. “The river is flowing really rapidly. There’s a lot of debris, trees and the like.”
The SES issued an emergency evacuation alert on Thursday night for 42 homes south of the dam at Lake Isandula after being advised it was at risk of failure.
TasWater manager Tony Willmott said the dam filled more rapidly than expected, with an inflow of 70,000 litres per second, and it was within half a metre of “overtopping”. The dam was latrer considered stable and would be assessed.