BROADCASTS.com

Published: Oct. 16, 2022, 9:39 p.m.

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More than 7000 homes and businesses in Victoria\\u2019s north could soon be flooded as the state\\u2019s historic emergency event continues.

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Shepparton residents are continuing to be bombarded with flood water, while other areas start the clean up process following last week\\u2019s monster deluge.

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The Goulburn River may peak near 12.1m later on Monday morning, potentially putting 7300 homes and businesses in Shepparton, Mooroopna and Kialla in danger of being surrounded or filled with flood water.

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Victorian Emergency management commissioner Andrew Crisp said they received 56 requests for rescues in those areas overnight on Sunday, with some yet to be undertaken.

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Bureau of Metrology meteorologist Dean Narramore said several river catchments are expected to peaked on Monday.

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\\u201cOn the Avoca River around the Charlton area, it looks like will peak around 8m today with major floods that will cause some issues there today,\\u201d he told the ABC.

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\\u201cMoving further eastwards, we\\u2019re looking at major flooding continuing and it will for a number of days on the\\xa0Campaspe\\xa0and the Goulburn River.

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\\u201cWe\\u2019ll see the floodwaters peak in Echuca and Moama, similar to the 1993 levels.

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\\u201cShepparton as well looking to peak sometime later today or into tonight. Similar to the levels of 1974, so it\\u2019s going a long way back.

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\\u201cThere\\u2019s a massive amount of water on the Goulburn right now and that all feeds into the Murray River, so we\\u2019re concerned for Echuca and Moama in the coming days.\\u201d

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But he warned more heavy rainfall has been \\u201cunfortunately\\u201d forecast for later in the week, with up to 25mm potentially hitting already flood-affected areas like Echuca and Shepparton.

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\\u201cNot good news for our flood-affected areas ... looking at widespread 25-50mm falls over much of inland New South Wales, northern Victoria and Queensland,\\u201d Mr Narramore said.

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\\u201cThis is a lot less than what we saw, but with everything now so wet and saturated, this is going to lead to renewed river level rises on many of our already flooded rivers.

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\\u201cParticularly as we get in towards that Thursday and Friday time frame \\u2026 we could see quite a few severe thunderstorms through inland areas across multiple days later this week and into the weekend.\\u201d

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Mr Narramore also said \\u201cit could be a while\\u201d until the rain lets up for residents in Australia\\u2019s east.

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\\u201cIt looks like we will get a brief break over the weekend Sunday and Monday, but there is another system hot on its heels as we move into early parts of next week,\\u201d he told The Today Show.

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\\u201c This wet pattern continues to bring widespread flooding across eastern Australia.\\u201d

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Federal Emergency Management Minister Murray Watt said Victoria was facing a \\u201ca very serious situation\\u201d.

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\\u201cThe reports I\\u2018m getting, we could be looking at up to 9000 homes inundated in northern Victoria and potentially close to about 34,000 homes in Victoria either inundated or isolated,\\u201d he told the ABC.

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Mr Crisp said around 300 to 400 homes have inundated with flood water in Echuca, while about 800 to 900 have been affected in Rochester.

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\\u201cI had the opportunity to fly over Rochester yesterday. To be frank, it\\u2018s depressing, there\\u2019s water everywhere,\\u201d he told the ABC.

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\\u201cWe\\u2019ll work with, stand with, and support the community of Rochester and we\\u2019ll be doing everything we can to help them get back on their feet.\\u201d

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On Saturday morning, a respected member of the Rochester community sadly lost his life in his backyard during the relentless weather event.

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Kevin Wills, 71, who was born in the Victorian town lived with his wife on High Street for years, with the community heartbroken at the loss.

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Mr Wills\\u2019 wife was also found by emergency services trapped at the property but was rescued safely.

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Victoria SES has issued more than 60 flood warnings across the state, more than 100 Australian Defence Force personnel have been deployed, while around 120 schools and 100 early learning centres are closed on Monday.

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The state and federal governments have prepared the Centre for National Resilience in Mickleham to provide crisis care for those needing accommodation.

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The Mickleham facility will provide 250 beds from Tuesday next week for people who have lost their homes in the floods.

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Residents will also receive food and other support services at the site, as well as remotely.

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The Commonwealth built and owned Mickleham location recently closed as a quarantine hub, allowing it to now open its doors to flood victims.

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Emergency Management Victoria, along with Emergency Recovery Victoria and Covid-19 Quarantine Victoria, are working collaboratively to set the facility up, using the existing quarantine staff and service providers to get support to those who need it quickly.

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The centre will act as a hub, as residents will be supplied with free regular transport on a provided shuttle bus to the local train station and shopping centre.

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Every room provided to those in need will hold toiletries and necessities, and people will be provided with three meals per day.

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Local charities are working to provide items that families may have had to leave behind in the floods, such as clothing.

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The federal government also made disaster assistance payments available for 44 flood affected areas across Victoria, NSW and Tasmania.

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In Victoria those 23 local government areas are:

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• Alpine
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• Benalla
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• Buloke
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• Campaspe
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• Central Goldfields
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• Corangamite
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• Gannawarra
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• Greater Bendigo
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• Greater Shepparton
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• Hepburn
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• Horsham
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• Loddon
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• Macedon Ranges
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• Mansfield
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• Maribyrnong
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• Mitchell Shire
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• Moira
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• Moonee Valley
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• Murrindindi
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• Northern Grampians
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• Pyrenees
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• Strathbogie
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• Wangaratta
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One-off Australian Government Disaster Recovery Payments are also available in Campaspe, Greater Shepparton, Maribyrnong, Mitchell and Strathbogie.

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There is $1000 per adult and $400 per child in recognition of the significant losses people in those areas have experienced due to the floods.

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The state government also revealed on Sunday that Melbourne Water will conduct a review into the 3m floodwater wall around Flemington Racecourse.

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It will investigate claims from frustrated residents that the racecourse managed to avoid the severe flooding because the wall pushed water into the surrounding Maribyrnong area.

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\\u201cMelbourne Water will conduct a thorough review of this flood event and any impact that wall had on this flood event,\\u201d Mr Andrews said.

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\\u201cAnd they\\u2019ll do that work at arm\\u2019s length from the government and report progress.\\u201d

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Racing Victoria chief executive Andrew Jones told Channel 9 over the weekend the well had created \\u201cunintended consequences\\u201d.

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\\u201cThe VRC took steps to flood-protect its property 15 years ago, which it\\u2019s entitled to do. That\\u2019s obviously had unintended consequences for neighbouring residents,\\u201d he said.

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\\u201cObviously there was no intention of the VRC to cause harm. They tried to protect the spring carnival and the Melbourne Cup Carnival, which is a massively important part of Victorian life and the Victorian economy, so I think this is an unintended consequence.\\u201d

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FLOOD WARNINGS

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• Major Flood Warning for the Avoca River
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• Major Flood Warning for the Broken River
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• Major Flood Warning for the Campaspe River
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• Major Flood Warning for the Goulburn River
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• Major Flood Warning for the Loddon River
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• Major Flood Warning for the Seven and Castle Creeks
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• Major Flood Warning for the Wimmera River
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• Moderate Flood Warning for the Barwon River
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• Moderate Flood Warning for the Ovens and King Rivers
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EMERGENCY WARNINGS

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• Echuca and Echuca Village (Evacuate Immediately)
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• Bunbartha (Evacuate Immediately)
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• Charlton (Evacuate Immediately)
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• Shepparton, Mooroopna, Orrvale, Murchison, Kialla West (Too Late to Leave)
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• Rochester (Move to Higher Ground)
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• Campaspe River downstream of Rochester (Move to Higher Ground)
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• Nanneella, Fairy Dell, Koyuga and Kanyapella South (Move to Higher Ground)
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• Campaspe River Lake Eppalock to Barnadown (Move to Higher Ground)
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• Loddon River Loddon Weir to Kerang (Move to Higher Ground)
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- by Hamish Spence and Isabel McMillan, news.com.au

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