Flooded Australian towns get levees and sandbags ready ahead of more rain

Sandbagging at the Barmah Bridge Caravan Park in Barmah, Victoria, Australia, on Oct 18, 2022. PHOTO: EPA-EFE
Locals pack sandbags at Wunghnu Park Reserve in Wunghnu, Victoria, Australia, on Oct 18, 2022. PHOTO: EPA-EFE
A group of people prepare sandbags in Cumeroongunja, on the New South Wales border with Victoria, on Oct 18, 2022. PHOTO: EPA-EFE

SYDNEY - Residents in flood-hit Australian towns ramped up efforts to build levees and sandbag homes on Wednesday ahead of more rain, although the authorities said the expected storms will be milder than last week’s, bringing relief as recovery operations begin.

Forecast rainfall across Victoria state is unlikely to trigger more major flooding, although parts of Australia’s east could receive up to 100mm of rain over the next five days, roughly a tenth of a year’s total for some areas, the Bureau of Meteorology said.

“The expected rainfall over the coming days is not expected to be anywhere near as widespread or as intense or as heavy, and as a result of that, we’re not expecting a return to major flooding,” said Mr Kevin Parkins, a meteorologist at the bureau.

Flood waters are still rising around several inland towns in Australia’s two most populous states of New South Wales and Victoria, with officials urging residents to evacuate before they are cut off.

Police said a 65-year-old man was found dead in flood waters in Victoria’s north on Wednesday, taking the total death toll to two.

Residents in some areas, including the Victorian rural town of Echuca, are facing their second flooding in a week.

A dirt levee has been built in Echuca, about 250km north of Melbourne, amid warnings that the Murray, Australia’s largest river, could breach a near 30-year high later this week.

In the nearby town of Moama, across the state border in southern New South Wales, defence force staff teamed up with residents to sandbag homes.

An intense weather system last week brought almost a month’s rain in two days across much of Victoria state, southern New South Wales and northern parts of Tasmania, triggering flash flooding.

Forecasters said any reprieve is likely to be temporary with a long wet summer ahead as Australia endures a rare third consecutive La Nina weather event, typically associated with higher rainfall. 

“This is a very, very long event... these floods will continue for a number of months,” New South Wales deputy state emergency services commissioner Ken Murphy told ABC television. 

Australia has been enduring extreme weather events that some experts said are happening because of climate change. Droughts and devastating bushfires scorched the country at the end of last decade, while frequent floods have been wreaking havoc since early 2021. 

Amid fears of renewed flooding, Grain Producers Australia said this year’s harvest was “on a knife-edge”, echoing warnings from the government about the economic costs of flooding. REUTERS

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