Saturday, March 30, 2024

Highs and lows

Recent stories

The Murray River at Koondrook-Barham is on the decline after a week of extreme height forecasts and even an evacuation scare for the Koondrook Primary School. Despite the river being on decline and steady flows through Torrumbarry, the Bureau of Meteorology (BoM) issued a flood warning of 6.3m on Wednesday, November 2 for Koondrook-Barham.

The move caused a flurry of activity on both sides of the river as truck loads of sandbags and teams of workers including Defence Force, CFA, RFS, SES and community volunteers built up the defences for the forecast threat.

Many wondered how the 6.3m forecast came about; was it a rounding up of the one decimal place used by the BoM? Was there a peak of water coming down the Gunbower that could deliver the 3,000 plus megalitres a day to get the river back up to exceed previous peak height? The community was left wondering.

Community nerves were further frayed when an Evacuate Now notice was issued on Friday, November 4 at 9:23am for the Koondrook Primary School. Despite the bank being stable and having regular inspection by the Koondrook Development Committee roster of levee inspectors, the notice was blasted across the media landscape with blanket coverage on the ABC and Triple M Bendigo.

The coverage of “Koondrook flooding” was so effective that one Bendigo man heading to Moulamein went via Echuca and Deniliquin. A perfect example of why Incident Control Centres must ground truth before adversely affecting trade, resources and inducing panic.

Roads around the district have been severely impacted, with general deterioration and water forcing road closures. The Moulamein-Swan Hill Road was closed on Monday after a levee near the Coonamit Bridge failed. It’s been a frustrating time for locals with rogue trucks removing road closed signs or becoming stranded in flood waters.

One such truck was seen driving at a “silly speed” in Murrabit West, reported to have water spraying higher than the cabin and overtopping nearby flood banks before breaking down. After more than 10 hours of no cavalry, locals assisted the truck to dry ground.

Renewed rises are occurring along the Edward River at Deniliquin, where the river level may reach near 9.00 metres around November 14-16, with moderate flooding.

The Edward River at Moulamein is peaking near 5.90 metres, with moderate flooding. Renewed rises are possible from mid to late November.

At time of printing, Yarrawonga, flows are 111,000ML/D, with local sites, the Murray River at Barham 33,000ML/D, the Edward River at Moulamein 22,439ML/D, the Niemur River at the Barham Road 26,189ML/D and the Wakool River at Barham Road unavailable.

The Koondrook and Barham Bridge Newspaper 10 November 2022

This article appeared in The Koondrook and Barham Bridge Newspaper, 10 November 2022.

KEEP IN TOUCH

Sign up for updates from Australian Rural & Regional News

Manage your subscription

We don’t spam! Read our privacy policy for more info.

For all the news from The Koondrook and Barham Bridge Newspaper, go to https://www.thebridgenews.com.au/