The entire Central Victorian region has been smashed by catastrophic floods, which appear to be more serious and more widespread than the 2010 and 2011 floods.

With many regions experiencing record-breaking rains over catchments that were already sodden, the end result has been devastating. Gutters have turned into creeks, creeks into raging rivers and rivers into churning brown oceans.

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese and Premier Daniel Andrews have visited flood-affected areas further north and have offered flood relief payments to residents as well as significant funding for Councils to offset the costs of cleanup. The army has been called into areas of major flooding to assist.

Hats off to police, CFA members, SES teams, outdoor Council staff, road crews and other emergency workers – paid and unpaid – who have worked around the clock and given their all since last Thursday to keep residents safe.

Their workload has been huge and, for some, dangerous. Now that the floodwaters have receded, many of those workers are still on the job – helping with the cleanup.

With the local area safe, some emergency workers travelled north to help out in flood-affected areas. Maldon Fire Brigade Captain Sean McCubbin said that tankers from Harcourt, Kangaroo Flat, Huntly and Campbells Creek – a total of 15 trucks – travelled to Echuca with flood recovery. SES crews have also travelled north, as have more fire trucks.   

When it comes to flood threat, Maldon was well-served by the main drain that diverts water under High Street and Main Street into Long Gully.

“Apart from pumping some water out of the dam at Pond Drive and helping out at a property in Church Street, Maldon was pretty much unaffected,” Sean said, “but Newstead and Baringhup were hit pretty hard. We went down to Newstead to help the Brigade down there to pump water away from the town. In my opinion, the damage bill from these floods is going to be huge. Some of the roads in the local area have simply been ripped to shreds.”

Police, SES and other workers have been kept busy rescuing people from floodwaters; a woman in Newstead who somehow strayed into floodwater, plus others who were attempting to drive through water. This is despite pleas from the authorities asking people not to drive through floodwater under any circumstances.

Once Goulburn-Murray Water began dramatically increasing the water flow from Cairn Curran, the Baringhup Caravan Park suffered extensive damage; caravans were flooded, water entered the store and cabins were washed across the road by the force of the water. Permanent residents were evacuated.

Baringhup Fire Brigade Captain Brendan McKnight said that CFA volunteers helped with the cleanup at the caravan park. “The damage was worse than the 2010 and 2011 floods,” he said.

According to Brendan, some farmers downstream from Cairn Curran suffered crop damage. As a farmer himself, he was not optimistic about the coming season, when it comes to crops and to hay. “It’s just too wet,” he said. For farmers who were expecting bumper crops after good rain, this prospect is heartbreaking.

Castlemaine was also hit hard by floodwater last Thursday, with the Botanical Gardens becoming a vast lake that began to flood into the Mill across the road.

The power sub-station on Elizabeth Street also became flooded, which led to a power outage overnight that extended across a wide area.

The Times spoke to Castlemaine SES Deputy Controller Daniel Bone who was in Echuca on Monday. He and a team of four others had been helicoptered in and were helping with sandbagging, pumping, evacuating residents and helping ambulances get through the floodwaters.

Daniel said that he and around 25 active responders answered over 100 calls for help in Castlemaine and surrounds last Thursday. “We had seven swift water calls and conditions were difficult, with roads cut everywhere,” he said. “At one stage, we couldn’t get to Maldon and the Maldon Fire Brigade helped us out.

They were fantastic. Our biggest job was at the sub-station. That was a mammoth effort. We were spread fairly thin!”

Further rain is expected this week, with falls from 20mm to possibly 70mm predicted across the region. Residents are advised to be prepared.

This article appeared in the Tarrangower Times, 21 October 2022.