Melbourne, Australia- Thousands of people especially in large parts of Victoria State, have been asked to evacuate their homes after two days of incessant rains triggered flash flooding and fast-moving waters burst river banks.
By midday Friday, there were more than 90 active warnings across the State. Northern Victorian areas including Strathbogie North and Charnwood, a weather station at Creek Junction, have received more than 200 millimetres since 9am on Wednesday.
Many rivers in Victoria, including the Maribyrnong in Melbourne’s west and the Goulburn further north, reached major flood levels, prompting the nighttime evacuation of residents.
Victorian emergency services sent out almost 37 000 text messages to residents in flood-impacted areas across the State overnight as water catchments surged and hundreds of people remained without power on Friday morning.
There are now 11 relief centres set up across Victoria and 50 collection points for sandbags and more than 200 arterial roads are now closed.
Premier Daniel Andrews said it would take some time to determine when residents in evacuation areas could return home, adding that 1 500 Victorians had applied for emergency payments via the State government’s website.
The government was also working with the Commonwealth to ensure the Mickleham quarantine facility would be ready to reopen if needed.
“We have got 500 homes where they have got water over the floorboards and also another 500 that are cut off. That number will definitely grow. It’s far from over. We will see more and more waters continuing to rise, more and more houses being inundated, more and more communities being closed off,” said the Premier.
Meanwhile, the floodwaters have now caused huge potholes that are hard to avoid in daylight and impossible in the dark.
This year, heavy rain has left Victoria’s roads in a particularly bad shape ahead of the usual spring maintenance season, but this week’s deluge increased the size and depth of the potholes.
The State government has allocated more than AU$780 million to repair 1 600 kilometres of State arterial road surfaces this year however, wet weather has delayed routine maintenance on regional roads, according to the Premier.
“You get into this situation where you put the bitumen down and without the proper dry weather for it to cure, traffic over it just rips it up again. That’s been the only limiting factor to get more and more of those potholes fixed. Not money, not will, it’s been all about weather, and of course that will still be a factor,” said the Premier.
