'Major flooding' hits Australia with hundreds of homes swamped

‘Major flooding emergency’ hits Australia with hundreds of homes swamped, cars swallowed by rising water and thousands of people forced to evacuate

• Flash flooding has inundated Melbourne, the largest city in Australia’s second-most populous state of Victoria
• Thousands have been forced to flee their homes in the suburb of Maribyrnong as streets turned into rivers
• Came after intense rain storm across southeastern Australia dumped a month’s worth of water in two days 
• Rain has now passed but emergency services warn floods will get worse as water flows into swollen rivers

Thousands of people have been forced to flee their homes after flash flooding hit Australia’s second-largest city of Melbourne, amid warnings of worse to come over the weekend. 

Five hundred homes in the suburb of Maribyrnong had to be evacuated overnight while another 500 are surrounded by water and cut off from emergency services, state premier Daniel Andrews has said. 

It comes after large parts of Victoria state – where Melbourne is located – were hammered by an intense rain storm that dumped a month’s worth of rain over two days. Neighbouring New South Wales and Tasmania, an island-state off the coast of Victoria, were also affected.

The storm has now passed but flooding is set to get worse over the weekend as water flows into already-swollen rivers. Shepparton, located around 100 miles north of Melbourne, is set to see the Gouldburn River – which flows through the centre of the city – rise to record levels over the coming days, threatening 4,000 homes.

Rescuer workers use an inflatable dinghy to rescue people from floodwaters in Maribyrnong, a suburb of Melbourne, after two days of heavy rain brought flash flooding

Emergency crews help evacuate people from the Melbourne suburb of Maribyrnong after a month’s worth of rain fell over the course of just two days, sparking flash floods

A man canoes down a street in Maribyrnong, Melbourne, after flash flooding – amid warnings that flood will get worse across the rest of Victoria state through the weekend

Men help carry a woman who was walking with a cane through floodwaters after hundreds of homes had to be evacuated in the Melbourne suburb of Maribyrnong, with hundreds more under threat

Cars were submerged and homes inundated in Maribyrnong, Melbourne, after a month’s worth of rain fell on the city in just two days – with alerts now out across the entirety of Victoria state

Floodwaters flow past shops in the Melbourne suburb of Maribyrnong after a nearby river burst its banks following two days of extreme rain across Victoria state

‘In terms of property damage, road, public infrastructure and the sheer volume of water, this is going to set new records,’ Mr Andrews said at a news conference.

Andrews said a decision would be made on Saturday about reopening the state’s purpose-built COVID-19 quarantine facility, closed last week after Australia scrapped isolation rules, to shelter flood-impacted residents.

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said the federal government stood ready to provide assistance to the flood-stricken states.

‘There are already ADF (Australian Defence Force) personnel on the ground in Victoria … this is a difficult time, my heart goes out to those communities affected at this time,’ local media quoted him as saying.

Maribyrnong resident Leah Caluzzi spent Friday morning salvaging sports gear from the local cricket club.

‘Our home oval is underwater at the moment, the water is well over waist high,’ she told AFP. ‘I live in the same suburb and it’s a bit scary. Luckily our house is a bit higher up, but lots of houses around the river are impacted.’

State Premier Daniel Andrews told reporters 500 homes in Victoria had been ‘inundated’, while a further 500 properties were surrounded by floods and cut off from emergency services.

‘That number will definitely grow,’ he said Friday.

Maribyrnong resident Betty Ristevesky said the situation was unsettling. ‘It’s getting a little bit nerve-wracking now,’ she told AFP. ‘The water is getting close and we can see it in front of us.’

While the worst of the rain had passed by late Friday morning, the state emergency service warned the floods would get worse as water flowed downstream into swollen river catchments.

‘There are not many parts of Victoria that aren’t experiencing major flooding over the coming days,’ emergency services spokesman Tim Wiebusch told reporters.

Emergency management commissioner Andrew Crisp said the Australian army was being deployed to help residents sandbag their houses.

‘This is a major emergency for the state of Victoria,’ he said.

Footage on social media showed people wading through knee-deep water with their pets and some being rescued in boats, while local media reported about 200 stud horses were at risk of being washed away in the rural Victorian town of Mangalore.

‘Everyone is in a state of ‘how is this actually happening?’ Maribyrnong suburb resident Matt Iozzi, who had to evacuate in the early hours of Friday morning, told the Australian Broadcasting Corp.

‘I spoke to a few neighbours, everyone was on their way out or planning to leave in the next 30 minutes after seeing how fast the water was rising.’

About 1,000 residents of Wedderburn, a small town 200 km (125 miles) north of Melbourne, were ordered to evacuate urgently due to the potential breach of a nearby dam.

Agnico Eagle’s Fosterville gold mine, Victoria’s largest, paused all non-essential operations, the company said. A spokesperson told Reuters that the resumption of full operations could take several days.

Parts of Victoria and Tasmania will remain under flood watch in the coming days as conditions eased 

The Esplanade in inner-city Melbourne is one of dozens of Maribyrnong streets which have turned into rivers

A Maribyrnong man stands waist-deep in floodwaters near his home after the nearby Maribyrnong River burst its banks 

These Melbourne residents wouldn’t let major flooding dampen their spirits, choosing to get around via kayak

In Tasmania, the flooding crisis intensified with fresh evacuation orders on Friday, while hundreds of residents in southern New South Wales spent the night in evacuation centres.

Rains had eased by Friday afternoon but the weather bureau has warned of another potential wild weather system next week.

Devastating floods have repeatedly struck Australia’s east coast since early last year because of a multi-year La Nina weather phenomenon, which brings more rain.

Northern parts of Tasmania – an island state south of Victoria – were on Friday also preparing for major floods.

Mass evacuation orders were issued, while heavy rains forced the closure of some 120 roads.

‘Lives are at risk from floodwaters,’ Tasmania’s state emergency service said in a statement.

In New South Wales – Australia’s most populous state – an evacuation centre was set up after intense downpours Thursday evening in Forbes, an inland town about five hours’ drive east of Sydney.

Australia’s east coast has been repeatedly lashed by heavy rainfall in the past two years, driven by back-to-back La Nina cycles.

The east coast flooding disaster in March – caused by heavy storms in Queensland and New South Wales – claimed more than 20 lives.

Tens of thousands of Sydney residents were ordered to evacuate in July when floods again swamped the city’s fringe.

Climate change does not cause La Nina events, but scientists believe it could make periods of flooding more extreme because warmer air holds more moisture.

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