Originally Published October 18 2022
“PREPARE for the worst, hope for the best.”
That was the message reinforced at town meetings in Quambatook and Kerang on Sunday as people decided whether to evacuate or remain in Kerang, as the town faced becoming an island by the end of the week.
“You should be prepared to isolate for up to two weeks,” hundreds of alarmed Kerang residents were told at the Memorial Hall.
People were urged not to panic, with the town’s levee bank expected to ensure there was no inundation of homes in the township.
“We have done a lot of work around the integrity of the levee banks,” Gannawarra Council acting chief executive Geoff Rollinson said.
He said workers had built up earth around the Murrabit road and completed the compacted levee on the south side of the town, but the levee banks seemed vulnerable when people stood them.
The power station south of Kerang was also protected from inundation with a permanent levee bank constructed following the devastating floods in 2011.
VicEmergency issued an emergency warning yesterday morning, stating that the Loddon River at Appin South had an initial peak at 3.2 metres about 3pm on Sunday, with moderate flooding.
It was at 3.25m yesterday afternoon and falling, with moderate flooding.
The Loddon River at Appin South is likely to exceed the 3.3m major flood level tonight or early tomorrow.
It is expected the river level could reach about 3.5m during Wednesday, close to the January 2011 flood peak of 3.57m.
The Loddon River at Patchell Bridge was at 76 metres Australian Height Datum (AHD) and slowly rising, below the minor flood level of 77m AHD.
It was likely to exceed the minor flood level yesterday morning, and was likely to exceed the 77m moderate flood level this morning and the major level of 77.8m tonight or early tomorrow.
“River levels may reach around 78m AHD overnight Tuesday into Wednesday, similar to the levels reached in the January 2011 flood event,” a VicEmergency message warned.
Victoria Police has deployed officers to Kerang to assist with the flood effort and almost 30 officers will be stationed in the town during the isolation period, performing welfare checks.
“Fourteen public order response team officers and two members from North West Metro Region were picked up from Essendon on Monday around 11am, which follows six members who headed north by road last night,” a police spokesperson said.
“Police will assist the community where needed in Kerang as they prepare to be significantly impacted by rising waters.”
An army of volunteers were at the Kerang SES unit at the weekend preparing sandbag, with local football clubs joining emergency services in their efforts.
SES chief operations officer Tim Wiebusch said people in flood-affected zones needed to be prepared to leave as soon as they received official alerts.
“We can’t emphasise enough that when we issue an evacuation warning, that is serious,” he said.
Mr Wiebusch said one of the biggest challenges emergency services were facing was “blue sky flooding”.
“The rain may have stopped and we might be seeing the odd shower but it’s more obvious (the risk) to people when there’s heavier rain,” he said.
“So we are advising people, please listen to the warnings.”
Mr Wiebusch said there had been more than 450 rescues in Victoria since the floods began.
The Swan Hill basketball stadium was transformed into a relief centre for Kerang residents yesterday, with 50 beds opening.
Woolworths in Kerang announced new trading hours – 10am-5pm daily – as it battles a shortage before the next stock delivery arrives.
Meanwhile, schools in Kerang, including Kerang Tech and Kerang Christian College, announced learning-from-home arrangements for students. Kerang Primary and Kerang South Primary will be open with limited staff onsite.
Terry White Chemmart Kerang is urging people to be patient in the coming days, with short staffing and limited stock.
“We have limited stock as we are still waiting for our recent orders to arrive and we are currently unsure of an arrival time for this,” the pharmacy wrote on Facebook.
“Our priority will be ensuring a minimum of two weeks’ supply for all patients. We will not able to supply anyone with multiple months of medication as we will simply run out of stock.”
Train services are operating between Southern Cross and Bendigo only, including replacement coaches.
There are no train or coach services operating between Swan Hill and Bendigo until further notice.
