Flood

If you think you’ve had a rough couple of years, spare a thought for beekeeper and honey producer Lindsay Callaway of Warral Maldon. Hard on the heels of the Covid lockdowns came the discovery in NSW of the varroa mite in June last year.  

Students in Rochester will return to their schools this week after being affected by the devastating flooding across Victoria last year. It’s the first time the students at Rochester Primary School and Rochester Secondary School will be able to walk back through the school gates since the flooding left both schools inundated with water.

Australia’s most trusted rural charity, Rural Aid, has joined forces with the Kimberley Pilbara Cattlemen’s Association (KPCA) to create a fundraising drive for flood-affected graziers in Western Australia’s Kimberley region ... Ex-tropical cyclone Ellie brought unfathomable volumes of rain to Fitzroy River catchments – up to 800 millimetres in a week for some locations - resulting in a flood that exceeded previous water levels by more than two metres. Properties such as Yeeda Station, just outside of Derby, were battling up to 40 kilometres of flood frontage.

ABC rural reporter Angus Verley was on location last Friday, January 20 in the flood ravaged Benjeroop area ... “We haven’t been flooded out in 100 years but we’ve been flooded out twice in 13 years,” Mr Schultz told Mr Verley. “Something’s not quite right and that’s what we have got to get to the bottom of.”

The BlazeAid camp saga continues. BlazeAid co-ordinators Cindy and Wayne Lusted were told to pack up the camp of volunteers staying at Rappville Sportsground ... Mick and Marie Evans, who were volunteers at the first BlazeAid camp in Casino are taking on the smaller jobs on the BlazeAid list and plan to finish the fencing themselves as M&M Fencing, not under the BlazeAid umbrella.

Sections of the highway around Fitzroy Crossing were completely washed away in the recent one-in-100-year flood event, while the Fitzroy Crossing Bridge sustained significant damage and will need to be fully replaced. The plan will involve the implementation of a barge system across the river, which will initially be operated by tugs, with a cable system to be operationalised shortly after.

With widespread La Niña flooding in the Murray-Darling Basin, common carp (Cyprinus carpio) populations are having a boom year.  Videos  of writhing masses of both adult and young fish illustrate that all is not well in our rivers.

The Euston weir and lock 15 will be reinstated ... as high flows in the River Murray continue to recede. The weir was removed in mid-September 2022 to allow floodwaters in the River Murray to pass unobstructed.

The state government’s program for the collection of sandbags from properties in Echuca and Echuca Village has resumed. Campaspe Mayor Cr Rob Amos is encouraging Echuca residents and businesses with sandbags on their properties to take advantage of the free service, which is provided through Emergency Recovery Victoria’s (ERV) Flood Recovery Clean-up Program.

Territorians and visitors are being urged to protect themselves from mosquitoes bites, with mosquito numbers expected to increase following recent heavy monsoonal rainfall. Some mosquito species can transmit viruses including the Ross River and Barmah Forest viruses, as well as the potentially fatal Japanese encephalitis and Murray Valley encephalitis viruses ... three cases of Japanese encephalitis have been diagnosed in the Northern Territory (NT), with the first detected in in 2021.

As the first anniversary of the floods approaches, residents are still wondering about buybacks, retrofitting and land swaps. They are still waiting to make decisions about their homes. The NRRC has not let residents know the options available to them.

Emma Pritchard. Clarence Valley residents are being encouraged to hop into action this month to help prevent a devastating pest from spreading further across the region by participating in the Great Cane Toad Bust 2023. An annual national incentive, the event aims to raise awareness of the invasive species, to help control their numbers, educate communities to correctly identify them, and to ensure any cane toads captured during hunts are humanely euthanised.

While the heavy rains that lashed the Shire of Broome last week from ex-Tropical Cyclone Ellie caused relatively minor damage in Broome, they have presented an increased risk of exposure to mosquito-borne diseases in town and surrounding communities. The Shire has commenced a pest management program ...

State-of-the-art colourised laser technology has been added to Fire and Rescue NSW’s (FRNSW) fleet of drones, giving firefighters the ability to more accurately identify bushfire threats. Minister for Emergency Services and Resilience Steph Cooke said the Light Detection and Ranging (LiDAR) sensors will help firefighters to better manage fuel loads by mapping bushland density.

With a heavy heart, BlazeAid camp coordinator Cindy Lusted announced the group would be packing up and leaving Rappville and the Richmond Valley by January 20 ... “From what I’ve heard, everyone who has had BlazeAid help said their stress has subsided because their fencing has been fixed”: Rappville Commercial Hotel publican Lisa Stewart. “It is imperative BlazeAid stay.”

The Kingston District Council has issued a warm welcome to flood impacted visitors and others looking for coastal accommodation during the upcoming school holidays through an extension of its low-cost RV Park. The Park, which will offer up to six (6) nights for just $60 until at least mid-February 2023, is set to use land adjacent the existing area and adjoining Maria Creek, to make way for anticipated visitors who may have otherwise holidayed along the flooding Murray River.

With Santa’s reindeer still a no show and the sleigh unable to power itself, it was a Hino tilt tray to the rescue for the Moulamein present run. A generous donation started after Heather Theodoulou witnessed the biggest flood on record isolating the town.

The Richmond Valley Council’s acknowledgement of the work done by BlazeAid volunteers in the past three years was more like a goodbye than a thank you at the council meeting on Tuesday, December 20. And BlazeAid isn’t thrilled about it.

The NSW sugar industry is putting out a call for truck drivers, in a race to finalise the harvest and crushing of this years’ northern rivers sugarcane crop. Thousands of tonnes of sugarcane remain unharvested due to a shortage of truck drivers.

The Newell Highway has reopened between Forbes and West Wyalong after flood waters and extensive damage forced a 49-day closure. Minister for Regional Transport and Roads Sam Farraway said it was a credit to the Transport for NSW crews who worked around the clock to have the highway open before Christmas for families looking forward to spending the festive season with loved ones.