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Fifty-two warnings and 37 incidents are reported across Victoria, according to the VicEmergency website, as of 2pm today.
The major update to flooding warnings so far today is that Kerang has now been told to evacuate, with the bridge out of the town set to be closed due to rising floodwaters at 7pm tonight. Authorities have warned the town in Victoria’s north-west on the Loddon River could be isolated for more than a week.
Other evacuation alerts remain in place for Echuca, Barmah (north-east of Echuca) and the Bunbartha area (just north of Shepparton).
Emergency warnings telling residents in Shepparton, Mooroopna and Kialla West it is too late to leave remain active. Orrvale residents have now been told it’s safe to return. Murchison has had its emergency warning downgraded to a watch and act.
Rochester, Boort and Wedderburn are still in emergency warning areas also, with residents told to move to higher ground in the two separate zones on the Campaspe and Loddon rivers.
Insurers received more than 6000 claims over the floods across Victoria, NSW and Tasmania, according to the Insurance Council of Australia.
The insurance industry body also declared an “insurance catastrophe” for flood-hit areas in the three states since October 12.
“Communities are rallying together to support each other, and insurers stand ready to support them through the oncoming recovery period,” the council’s chief executive Andrew Hall said today.
The declaration reflects the growing severity of the floods and will let insurers escalate and prioritise affected policyholders, according to the council.
“Communities are rallying together to support each other, and insurers stand ready to support them through the oncoming recovery period,” Hall said.
There were 6350 claims made to insurers as of Wednesday.
Homes across the Shepparton and Mooroopna areas have had power restored today, after flooding forced a power company to shut a substation.
Powercor was forced to de-energise a plant at the Mooroopna Zone Substation on Sunday because it became too dangerous to keep it operating due to floodwaters.
“By switching homes and businesses to other parts of the network, and building new sections of infrastructure to bring supply across from neighbouring zone sub-stations, Powercor has been able to return supply to more than 5900 homes and businesses,” the company said in a statement.
Powercor said it was taking steps to protect critical sites as the floodwaters move west, with more rain predicted.
This includes sandbagging, lifting critical assets to higher ground and installing pumps.
More than 300 Australia Defence Force personnel are on the ground in Victoria with another 100 expected to be in the state tomorrow, according to Brigadier Matt Burr.
He is the commander of the ADF forces deployed in Victoria to help with the flooding crisis and said today they were helping in Rochester, Shepparton, Echuca, Seymour and the greater Bendigo area.
Brigadier Matt Burr at the State Control Centre.Credit:Scott McNaughton
“They’ve been doing flood preparation activities, sandbagging welfare checks, evacuation support, logistics, resupply, transport, assistance, access and initial recovery support, including in those tasks is that filling and distributing of sandbag,” Burr said.
He said those assisting were inspired by the communities they had helped.
“It’s really driving the idea of forces, to continue to do the work that they’re doing shoulder to shoulder, with the emergency responders that are on the ground,” Burr said.
An additional 100 members would be touching down from tomorrow to help with the effort, he said.
Returning to SES chief Tim Wiebusch, who spoke at the State Control Centre this morning about the drop in callouts and rescues in the state.
He said there were 400 requests for assistance and 26 rescues across the state in the past 24 hours.
“It is pleasing that people do seem to be heeding at this time the message not to drive through flood water,” Wiebusch said.
He said some roads were cut off and others that were closed.
“Please do not drive around road closure signs and attempt to drive through floodwaters, it may be the last decision you make,” Wiebusch said.
One of the key focuses was the Loddon River particularly around Pyramid Hill, south of Kerang, and Wiebusch urged people to make their decisions about evacuating.
“If people choose to stay they will be isolated for at least seven days post the peak, which they are expecting on Thursday,” he said.
The bridge out of the town set to be closed due to rising floodwaters at 7pm.
But in good news for those in and around Mooroopna, floodwaters have receded enough that they can lift the emergency warning.
Tens of thousands of flood-affected Victorians are now eligible for additional emergency assistance.
The federal and state governments unveiled wider relief payment eligibility and $150 million in flood clean-up assistance in a joint statement this afternoon.
Victorians whose properties were destroyed or damaged in the floods can have their properties cleared of hazards at no cost, the statement said.
Victorian Premier Daniel Andrews.Credit:Scott McNaughton
Emergency re-establishment payments have also been activated, providing up to $43,850 for households without flood insurance, facing financial hardship, whose homes have been damaged or destroyed to help pay for clean-up, emergency accommodation, repairs, rebuilding and replacing essential household items.
These grants are for residents whose homes are uninhabitable for more than a week.
About 50,000 homes, 14 hospitals and 300 schools and early childhood facilities have been identified within flood impacted areas in Victoria to date and these numbers are expected to grow, the statement said.
The federal government’s one-off, non-means tested Australian Government Disaster Recovery Payment of $1000 for eligible adults and $400 for eligible children has now also been made available to people who live in the local government areas of Benalla, Boroondara, Central Goldfields, Greater Bendigo, Loddon, Moonee Valley, Mount Alexander, Murrindindi and Yarra Ranges.
That assistance was already available for those in Campaspe, Greater Shepparton, Maribyrnong, Mitchell and Strathbogie.
The statement said eligibility could be expanded to more areas as the flood situation evolved.
Earlier, authorities reported a 65-year-old man had been found dead in floodwaters in Victoria’s north this morning.
His death – near the town of Nathalia, north-east of Echuca – is the second fatality in the state’s flooding event so far.
A man was also found dead in a backyard in Rochester on Saturday after severe flooding.
Premier Daniel Andrews did not provide further details about today’s death beyond what was disclosed by police this morning, but offered his condolences to the man’s family at the press conference.
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese held a press conference in Hobart after touring some of Tasmania’s flood-affected Tasmania.
Here’s a taste of his opening comments:
What I have seen throughout Victoria and NSW and Tasmania is the devastating impacts of these floods. My heart goes out to the communities who have been impacted. I recommit to the federal support that we’ve offered already for the floods. We have six local government areas here in Tasmania that are receiving the disaster recovery payment of $1000 for adults, $400 for children. And in addition to that, there’s 17 local government areas eligible for the Disaster Recovery Allowance. So if people have missed out on work because they can’t get there, because the businesses are shut, or their communities have been isolated, then they’re eligible for up to 13 weeks’ payment at the JobSeeker rate.
Fifty-two warnings and 37 incidents are reported across Victoria, according to the VicEmergency website, as of 2pm today.
The major update to flooding warnings so far today is that Kerang has now been told to evacuate, with the bridge out of the town set to be closed due to rising floodwaters at 7pm tonight. Authorities have warned the town in Victoria’s north-west on the Loddon River could be isolated for more than a week.
Other evacuation alerts remain in place for Echuca, Barmah (north-east of Echuca) and the Bunbartha area (just north of Shepparton).
Emergency warnings telling residents in Shepparton, Mooroopna and Kialla West it is too late to leave remain active. Orrvale residents have now been told it’s safe to return. Murchison has had its emergency warning downgraded to a watch and act.
Rochester, Boort and Wedderburn are still in emergency warning areas also, with residents told to move to higher ground in the two separate zones on the Campaspe and Loddon rivers.
Quickly jumping back to the premier’s press conference this morning, Emergency Management Commissioner Andrew Crisp defended the warnings issued for the Maribyrnong River before flooding hit Melbourne’s north-west last week.
A senior SES volunteer told The Age that residents near the river were not given accurate information about the scale of the unfolding flooding disaster, adding her voice to criticisms that evacuation warnings came too late.
“I’m very confident that the system worked,” Crisp told reporters.
“I think the important point to make in relation to that particular community [Maribyrnong] is that earlier in the week, there were a number of homes that were doorknocked in relation to the impending weather. I don’t think anyone in Victoria would have been surprised that the state was going to be confronted with a significant weather event that would result in flooding.”
Crisp said warnings were gradually raised, with a watch and act alert issued before significant flooding occurred on Friday morning last week.
“It’s very clear in relation to specific instructions that people should be undertaking when it comes to that particular warning. It is about watch and act,” Crisp said.
Crisp added that the graduated warnings – which included an evacuation alert – covered areas wider than the properties that were actually impacted.
In more positive news issued this morning, Orrvale residents, in Victoria’s north, have been told they can return to their homes.
A VicEmergency alert issued at 11.55am downgraded the emergency warning to a low-level advice notice.
Dangerous hazards including floodwater, mud, debris, damaged roads and fallen trees may still be present in the area.
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2022-10-19 06:34:09Z
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