Residents in Victoria are on edge as they wait for forecast major flood peaks this morning, following days of recording-breaking rain across the state.
Key points:
- People in the townships of Seymour, Yea and Rochester have been asked to evacuate
- The Campaspe River is forecast to peak above the major flood level at Rochester this morning
- The SES has rescued at least 38 people from floodwaters since Sunday morning
Rochester, which was almost wiped out by the 2022 floods, is still under threat following heavy downpours in the Campaspe River catchment around Bendigo.
Residents in the central Victorian town had a nervous night, after many were asked to evacuate late on Monday.
Emergency authorities issued a warning Tuesday morning saying it was now too late to safely leave the town and residents should shelter in the highest location possible.
The Campaspe River is forecast to peak above the major flood level at Rochester this morning, with a number of homes expected to be impacted.
People in the townships of Seymour and Yea were also asked to evacuate on Monday afternoon, with 50 homes facing immediate risk of seeing over-floor flooding and a further 140 properties facing flooding below floor level.
Residents brace for impact
Anthony Ruscoe, who has spent much of his life in the Seymour area, said the real concern for his family was not knowing the level at which the Goulburn River would peak.
"It's always a concern because we don't know how high the river is going to come up," Mr Ruscoe said.
"I think the worst to be hit [will be] my man cave down the back … I'll be devastated if that goes under there, along with the house," he said.
On Monday afternoon, Mr Ruscoe had sandbagged the front door to his house and moved his family — and his classic car — to higher ground.
"I'm sure there's a lot of other people down the other end of town that are going to be worse off than I am," he said.
"It's just worrying all the time.
"The river goes right around the town, so we're always … a possibility of getting flooded."
Gregory Van Haaster was camping at the river in Seymour and noticed the water rapidly rise on Monday morning, before evacuating to higher ground at 9:30am.
"I was at the camp grounds and it's been shut down, it's underwater," he said.
"I've been at the recovery centre since 10:30am this morning, before it even opened — we got told that the relief centre would be here so that's where we headed.
"Everything else is closed in town; supermarkets are shut, petrol is shut off, so we had to go somewhere."
Calls for help
As of Monday afternoon, the SES had responded to more than 1,200 requests for assistance since Sunday morning.
"Unfortunately 38 of those have related to flood rescues," VICSES chief officer of operations Tim Wiebusch said.
"In the majority of cases it's people taking their lives in their own hands and attempting to drive through flash flood waters.
"We cannot emphasise enough, do not attempt to drive through flash floodwaters — it could be the last decision you make."
Record-breaking rain
Senior meteorologist Michael Efron from the Bureau of Meteorology (BOM) said some parts of Victoria had seen record-breaking amounts of rain.
"At Redesdale, we've seen 117mm falling there — a daily record for any month, [from] over 120 years of data," Mr Efron said.
"And at Bendigo, 92mm falling in 24 hours, another record with over 90 years of data."
Mr Efron said Heathcote, 40 kilometres south-east of Bendigo, had received 184mm "in just 24 hours".
Senior meteorologist Stephanie Miles, also from the BOM, said the stormy weather was caused by the Southern Annular Mode (SAM), a climate driver that could influence rainfall and temperature in Australia.
"It's been very unpleasant across the state, especially for those people experiencing flooding at the moment," she said.
"It's been quite devastating for some people.
"This is despite the outlook of El Niño saying that perhaps it would have been a drier period."
Ms Miles said the weather was forecast to calm down in coming days.
"From Wednesday onwards it will feel a lot more settled and we are reaching some higher temperatures by Friday," she said.
"If people are able to look that far ahead, there is some warmer and drier weather coming up."
Summer so far has been a vast contrast to Victoria's spring period, during which the state experienced its driest September on record, driven by El Niño.
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2024-01-08 18:18:18Z
CBMidmh0dHBzOi8vd3d3LmFiYy5uZXQuYXUvbmV3cy9ydXJhbC8yMDI0LTAxLTA5L3JhaW4tZmxhc2gtZmxvb2RzLWZvcmNlLXZpY3Rvcmlhbi10b3ducy1zZXltb3VyLXllYS10by1ldmFjdWF0ZS8xMDMyOTMzMzjSAShodHRwczovL2FtcC5hYmMubmV0LmF1L2FydGljbGUvMTAzMjkzMzM4
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