Residents in Victoria are being asked to leave their homes as floods continue to rise, and large areas of Australia may see severe rain.
When the overflowing Campaspe River reaches its high early on Friday morning, it is anticipated that more than 200 houses in Rochester, central Victoria, would be under water.
As flood levels not seen in more than a decade threaten to swallow their houses, residents of Rochester have been ordered to leave immediately.
The Goulburn River is expected to reach its highest point on Thursday afternoon as the town suffers its biggest flood since the 1970s.
Residents of Lake Eildon’s low-lying districts have also been advised to leave as floods advance on Bendigo’s bridges, residences, and parks.
The Bureau of Meteorology said that Seymour would need to be closely monitored on Thursday since river levels were predicted to rise over the significant threshold of seven meters.
Residents of Seymour who are considering an evacuation are being advised to leave their houses as soon as possible since the town is now shut off from a main route.
The overflowing Campaspe River is predicted to reach its height early on Friday morning, raising concerns for Rochester, a town located approximately 180 kilometers north of Melbourne.
As the neighborhood prepares thousands of sandbags, it is anticipated that more than 300 houses would be submerged by floods.
After rainfall polluted the town’s water storage tanks in Echuca, the locals were advised to boil their water before drinking it.
For local inhabitants who must evacuate their houses, such as those in Rochester, the neighborhood stadium has been transformed into a refuge.
The SES has advised hundreds of residents in Forbes, central western NSW, to leave the region by 8 p.m. on Thursday in order to avoid significant flooding in the area.
About 250 properties are affected by the orders as rain pelts the area and Wagga Wagga experiences significant flooding after Thursday morning’s high of the Murrumbidgee River.
Jonathan How, a senior forecaster, said on Thursday that Broken Hill, in the extreme west of New South Wales, had had an overnight rainfall.
More than 50mm of rainfall fell over night, breaking the previous record set in October, he told the ABC.
The guy, 63, was last seen on a rural property on Lachlan Valley Way in Hillston about lunchtime on Tuesday when he assured a friend he would be back quickly. He is thought to be lost in the floods of western New South Wales.
The search is now concentrated on the Riverina property and the area around the Lachlan River after local police, PolAir, Police Rescue, the SES, and paramedics were unable to locate the guy on Wednesday.
Concerns for his safety have grown after police discovered the death of another man on Tuesday, stuck in his submerged vehicle in the state’s central west.
Southern NSW will see heavy rain with six-hourly totals of 30 to 50 mm, as well as destructive winds in alpine regions.
On Friday morning, showers will move over the coast before ultimately moving offshore in the afternoon and evening. The rain will gradually stop on Thursday night.
Back in Victoria, people were battered by rain overnight across the region’s north-west, with Kilmore locals allegedly having to wade through raw sewage that was said to have spilled into the streets’ flooded streets.
More than 200 requests for assistance have been answered by State Emergency Service personnel in the Loddon Malley area, and things might become worse.
Goulburn Valley Water’s Steve Nash, a spokesperson, refuted claims that the brown goo oozing from its sewerage lines was raw sewage.
We had a rainwater surge that entered our sewage system. Just before noon, he told 3AW’s Neil Mitchell, “We got a call this morning from the public indicating there was raw sewage pouring out of some man holes in a region in Kilmore.
The investigation on site reveals that the place where it was alleged that stormwater was pouring out is indeed pumping out stormwater.
Mr. Nash informed the Kilmore community that the discharge was unrelated to any health concerns. He said, “It’s simply stormwater pouring out.”
Due to worries about flooding along the Yarra River, which runs through the center of Melbourne’s CBD, St. Kevin’s College students are now attending classes remotely.
In 2005 and 2009, the school’s Heyington campus, which is located in Toorak along the Yarra, flooded.
According to reports, The Alfred Hospital has been impacted by flooding that has flooded the hospital’s basement.
Andrew Crisp, the emergency management commissioner for Victoria, has issued a warning that the state’s danger of flooding won’t go away after today or even after this weekend.
Since the state is going through a “campaign flood event,” emergency management commissioner Andrew Crisp told 3AW’s Neil Mitchell that “we’re in this for a long.”
He informed Mitchell, “There is another low forming, so we’ll probably experience that weather next Wednesday/Thursday.”
The bureau predicts that this cycle will continue for the next six to eight weeks.
Mr. Crisp pleaded with Victorians not to drive today, if at all possible.
“Please don’t be on the roads today if you don’t need to; it’s not only about the floods; it’s also about the trees,” was the message.
Emergency personnel paddled into a kayak near Point Cook, west of Melbourne, in an effort to rescue a cat that had been trapped under a bridge.
‘Yumi’ the cat was seen swimming for its life in dramatic video shot by neighborhood news outlet Wyndham TV after being ultimately carried away by flood waters.
The cat was being washed down by the floods when its owner was able to save it.
Northern Melbourne’s outlying suburbs’ roads are under water, which is destabilizing the situation there.
More traffic closures are anticipated over the next several days on major motorways including the Calder and Midland.
Driving on major highways including the Hume Freeway, Northern Highway, Midland Highway, and Calder Highway may be dangerous due to poor road conditions, especially in northern regions like Seymour, Bendigo, and Echuca.
Several states, most notably Victoria and Tasmania as well as southern New South Wales, are expected to be hit by the huge cloud belt that can be seen on satellite photos and that extends 5,000 kilometers from the Tropical Indian Ocean to continental Australia.
With over 120,000 residents, Bendigo has seen heavy rainfall, with 65.6mm falling in a single day compared to roughly 40mm in Melbourne.
By the end of Thursday, some communities in Victoria’s north may see up to 80mm of rain fall in a single day, according to a Bureau of Meteorology spokesman.
Houseboats have been positioned in the middle of the Murray River at Mildura, in northern Victoria, close to the boundary with New South Wales, in the hopes that the rising floods won’t destroy them.
In the meantime, sandbagging is taking place in Rochester, a town in central Victoria that is predicted to be effectively “cut in half” should the nearby Campapse River overflow. As many as 700 homes might be flooded, it is feared.
The SES issued a warning on Thursday stating that Saturday was expected to bring the town’s highest flood waters.
A meeting of about 200 people in Rochester on Wednesday night was informed by authorities that a one-in-50-year flood is the most likely outcome, but a one-in-200-year flood is also a possibility.
Water levels could rise to 115 meters above sea level, according to locals.
Since the Campaspe River is predicted to overflow its banks, Mackay Street in the town has reportedly already experienced flooding.
As the rainy weather persists, Rochester locals and businesses have been slavishly filling sandbags.
Another flooding incident, the worst on record for the area, devastated the town in 2011.
The Campaspe river reached record highs, forcing the evacuation of patients from the neighborhood hospital.
Forecasters have issued a warning that a huge cloud band that is being pulled over southeast Australia will cause Victoria to experience very high levels of tropical rainfall.
Because of that moisture, Victoria will see a spell of heavy rain that lasts until Friday morning.
In the central and western regions of the state, shower activity has already begun to build up, with Melbourne receiving 8mm by Wednesday noon.
As a cold front approaches through the state’s western regions, the situation is expected to worsen during the remainder of the day with rising wind and rain.
On Thursday, the cold front will move farther east, bringing harsh weather to the state’s central, northern, and northeastern regions.