Australian Towns cut off by rising floodwaters
Pastor Dale Morgan
Australian Towns cut off by rising floodwaters*
June 28, 2007 06:17am
Article from: AAP
ROADS between Melbourne and towns in East Gippsland have been cut as
swirling flood waters closed the Princes Highway and another major road
overnight.
Meanwhile, rescue crews were trying to locate a man trapped when a
30-metre tree fell on a house at Mount Macedon, north-west of Melbourne,
late last night.
East of Melbourne, the Maroondah Highway was cut by a large number of
falling trees made unstable by heavy rain.
Gippsland residents have spent an anxious night with a number of rivers
in south eastern Victoria threatening to burst their banks in the
region's worst floods in 17 years.
The Bureau of Meteorology (BoM) late last night issued major flood
warnings for the Mitchell, Avon, Macalister and Thomson rivers, and the
Traralgon Creek.
There were also moderate flood warnings for the Tambo, Snowy, Cann,
Genoa and Latrobe rivers.
Several motorists have been stranded on the Princes Highway at
Stratford, where the Avon River has washed across the road.
The only other major east-west link in the region, the Traralgon-Maffra
Road, was also cut at nearby Heyfield, a Victoria Police spokeswoman said.
The State Emergency Service (SES) doorknocked residents in the towns of
Boisdale and Stratford, north of Sale, where the Avon River is expected
to exceed flood levels last seen in 1990.
The SES was sandbagging houses in Boisdale, in preparation for the Avon
to burst its banks, Wellington Shire spokesman Colin Adams said.
"All the locals are lifting their furniture on top of the table and
preparing themselves accordingly,'' he told ABC radio.
At Bairnsdale, the Mitchell River was expected to equal the 1990 flood
level, the Bureau of Meteorology said.
Flooding was expected in Bairnsdale and at Traralgon later today, and at
Sale, where the Latrobe and Thomson rivers meet, on Friday and Saturday.
Several properties were underwater in Franklin Street, Traralgon, police
said today.
South-eastern Victoria received a drenching yesterday due to a low
pressure system in the Tasman Sea.
From 9am (AEST) to 4.30pm yesterday, 355mm (355mm) of rain fell at
Mount Baw Baw.
At Lakes Entrance, 84mm of rain was recorded in the 24 hours to 3pm
yesterday, while Bairnsdale received 93mm of rain from 9.30pm Tuesday to
8pm yesterday.
Rain had eased across Gippsland but resumed during the night.
SES volunteers responded to more than 400 calls to deal with leaking and
dislodged roofs, flash flooding plus fallen trees on buildings and
across roads - most calls from Bairnsdale and Lakes Entrance.
A man is recovering in hospital with neck injuries after a tree fell on
his car on the Princes Highway, near Munro in East Gippsland.
The Maroondah Highway at the Black Spur, near Healesville, was expected
to re-open later today after a series of trees fell across the road as
the rain and high winds took their toll last night.
The deep and slow-moving low pressure system that was lying off the
eastern tip of Victoria would gradually move away from the state tomorrow.
A high pressure ridge was expected to briefly cross the state tomorrow
ahead of a cold front on Saturday.