Emergency Services in New South Wales are facing the largest flood operation in the state’s history, with thousands of people displaced and hundreds rescued from inundated homes and communities, ABC News has reported.
This comes as the clean up continues in South Australia and Victoria.
New South Wales:
The Lachlan River near the NSW town of Forbes is nearing a predicted peak of about 10.8 metres, similar to record levels set in 1952.
With the flood peak yet to arrive, Forbes Mayor Phyllis Miller estimated two-thirds of the town was already inundated.
A team from Fire Emergency New Zealand has touched down to provide relief to exhausted SES crews who have been dealing with flooding in the Forbes district for months.
In Eugowra, the NSW SES says at least 225 buildings have been damaged in the floods.
Meanwhile, rescue workers are continuing their search for 85-year-old Les Vugec, who was reported missing as floodwaters swept through Eugowra. He last spoke to a relative from a car about 9.30am on Monday.
The search resumes after a body believed to be that of another Eugowra resident, Dianne Smith, was recovered yesterday.
Victoria:
As the clean-up from the floods in Victoria continues, King Charles has sent a letter of support to the Victorian governor.
The king said he and his wife had been following the “terrible” floods in Victoria and sent words of support to Victorians affected.
“Our heartfelt thoughts are with all those affected and for the losses that have been suffered,” he said.
Flooding in the state began in early October, with northern Victoria the hardest hit.
Two men were found dead in floodwater in northeast Victoria in separate incidents in mid-October, while hundreds of homes across the state were inundated with water and towns such as Echuca and Kerang advised to evacuate.
Debris is still being cleared in many areas and the wettest October on record inflicted extensive damage on the state’s roads.
South Australia:
In South Australia, nearly 40 schools remain without power after the savage weekend storms.
Department of Education chief executive, Martin Westwall, said hundreds of SACE students were meant to sit exams today.
“The SACE board’s got a process, just as if it was a bushfire or the student was ill or something like that, to make sure that no student is disadvantaged by not sitting the exam today,” he said.
The intense thunderstorms generated more than 100,000 lightning strikes along with winds of up to 106km/h.
More than 30,000 homes and businesses remain without power.
It follows a peak of 163,000 customers left in the dark as the state suffers its worst outage since the 2016 statewide blackout.
