Flood

On any given day, the streets of Moulamein would see the odd fisherman or ute laden with dogs trundling by, but not last week. Moulamein was the highway of detour distress ... From road trains to hot rods, race cars to caravans, Moulamein exploded with Sturt Highway traffic desperately trying to find their way without the traditional Sydney to Adelaide route.

Rodney Stevens. The united chorus of ‘Stop building on Floodplains’ from federal and state leaders during the devastating and ongoing flooding in NSW during 2022 could reshape communities and country towns. Federal Minister for Emergency Management Murray Watt last week called for new laws to be introduced to stop homes being built on floodplains and other disaster-prone areas.

Notice of community meetings, flood information, SES status, advice and links provided by Alexandrina Shire in South Australia, where the River Murray meets the sea and flooding is predicted.

1.5 million sandbags and almost 8 km of flood barriers have been secured by the South Australia Government to help protect flood affected River Murray communities. Three kilometres of DefenCell barriers from India arrived in Adelaide on Saturday 19 November with a further four kilometres of product expected to arrive on 28 November from Italy.

Grain Producers Australia is calling on federal political leaders to deliver urgent solutions to fix infrastructure damage that’s having devastating impacts on farm viability and community safety ... The severe and untimely weather is also having a major impact on local road networks, exacerbating an already strained grains supply chain – not only on the east coast of Australia.

A complex aerial operation has placed bulka bags filled with 78,000 kilograms of sand along a levee bank west of the Loddon River at Kerang. The levee bank, situated near properties and major arterial roads linking Kerang to Swan Hill, Boort and Quambatook, breached when the Loddon River reached major flood levels in late October.

Kendall Jennings. It has been nearly a month since public transport was available from the Kerang Railway Station, halted by the floods. The Swan Hill line was reactivated on Saturday, November 12, running trains for the entire service after the line was inspected and passed last week.

An $8 million project to upgrade North Queensland’s flood warning network is now complete with 180 new flood warning assets installed across 28 council areas in the Far North, North and North West of the state.  

Daryl Wiltshire from Undera reports that while the floodwaters are receding, the community is waiting and hoping that the rain that is forecast will not affect the region too much. Undera people are "hoping for a show of resolve from the authorities who control levees to future flood proof the farming area."

The Murray–Darling Basin Authority will increase the release of water from Hume Dam [Friday 11 November] morning ahead of potentially heavy rainfall from Sunday 13 November as forecast by the Bureau of Meteorology. Releases from Hume Dam will increase from 85 gigalitres (GL) per day to 95 GL per day.

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 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 ... Many wondered how the 6.3m forecast came about; was it a rounding up of the one decimal place used by the BoM?

Ben Evans settled on his 2,600-acre Mellool farm just two months ago ... His entire property, bar six acres, is underwater ... Daniel Monk, has never seen floodwater inundate the area as widely or as quickly ... Marcus and his wife, Bree, have 90 per cent of their 4,000ha farm inundated at Mallan ... “I have never seen so much water ever,” said Ken Spence.

Major flooding of the Murrumbidgee River at Narrandera has led to the evacuation of residents in 14 households south of town. Warnings for major flooding are still in place. Narrandera Shire Council Deputy General Manager Infrastructure Shane Wilson said ... the volume of water flowing through the river in a 24-hour period was 130,000 Ml megalitres which equated to 130,000 Olympic swimming pools as against the normal flow rate of 40 megalitres. SES volunteers are keeping a close watch on water levels and checking on residents in low lying areas.

Two community meetings were held in Allora on Monday afternoon to discuss the topic, both involving concerned locals who have properties impacted by floodwaters and representatives of Southern Downs Regional Council (SDRC) ... Many residents believe multiple floods earlier this year along Dalrymple Creek were made worse by the levee bank, particularly around the corner of Raff and Jubb streets.

Kirstin Nicholson. Mick Farrant’s dairy farm is on Flannery’s Road, McMillans and two thirds of his 1,100-acre property is underwater. Excess water from Pyramid and Bullock Creeks has inundated the farm. “It’s a big job moving cattle, it’s just a massive undertaking to shift a whole herd and get set up for them somewhere else. You don’t do that in five minutes,” he said.

An 83 year old bridge has been replaced by a new concrete bridge that will last 100 years. The $2.6 million Cedar Point Bridge on Edenville Rd, near Kyogle ... is a single span concrete structure, founded on steel driven piles with greater flood immunity than the previous bridge.

Releases from Hume Dam have today increased to 75 gigalitres (GL) per day, up from 50 GL per day yesterday in response to overnight inflows that peaked at 100 GL a day. Further increases are likely with a renewed inflow peak expected later today. Combined with inflows from the Kiewa River – downstream of Hume Dam – the Murray River is expected to approach or possibly exceed the major flood level at Albury in coming days.

Cook Shire Council is pleased to announce that with repairs to the approach ramps of the Marton Swing Bridge coming to completion, the bridge is scheduled to reopen in coming days – ahead of the approaching wet season.