-
Source: ABC
Hundreds of homes have been inundated as Victoria faces its worst floods in more than a decade.
The rain has eased for now but the emergency is not over, with
many Victorian towns set to be flooded in the next few days.
Northeast Victoria faces flooding today when water from the Broken
River flows into Benalla while water from Fifteen Mile Creek and
the Ovens River will swell into Wangaratta.
Victoria faced its worst floods in more than a decade on the
weekend, with 200mm of rain falling in some areas.
Areas all around the state remain threatened by floods, including
towns near the Mitchell River, Macalister River and Lake Glenmaggie
in the Gippsland region in Victoria's east.
The Wimmera region, in the west, is experiencing the worst flooding
in two decades, with the Avoca River and Wimmera River bursting,
while water from the Goulburn River will affect properties around
north central areas including Seymour, Nagambie Murchison and
Shepparton.
"Our state is very wet, we are seeing flood levels that we haven't
seen for many years," State Emergency Service (SES) state
controller Tim Wiebusch told reporters today.
"Gippsland, it's probably been five years since we've seen some
decent flooding there, 15 years up in the northeast of the state
and many more years up in the Wimmera (in the north-west of the
state) in particular."
So far 250 homes have been inundated by floods but that number is
certain to rise today and tomorrow, according to Victorian Premier
John Brumby.
Victoria's northeast was the hardest hit yesterday, when the towns
of Euroa, Benalla and Myrtleford were issued with emergency
evacuation alerts.
Flash flooding also hit areas west of Melbourne including Creswick
and Clunes.
An extra 150 police have been sent to flood-hit areas, defence
force personnel will be deployed and Victoria's new emergency alert
phone messaging system has been used seven times so far with flood
warnings and advice sent to 51,000 Victorians.
"We've been in touch with the federal government so there will be
some defence deployment tomorrow ... 50 defence personnel in the
north of the state assisting with things like relief, evacuations
or relocations and sandbagging and holding back the water," Brumby
told reporters.
More rain is forecast later in the week, which is not as heavy with
up to 30mm expected but could cause extra flooding because of the
weekend's events making the ground wet.
Wiebusch urged people in affected areas to be on alert, listen out to emergency broadcasters.
