2007 Victoria Flood Update #1

I have been out of the country for a little while and I come back to Victoria and we may need a Noah’s Ark down here in some areas pretty soon with all the rain that is falling on the state:

LAKES Entrance residents were warned last night to brace themselves as a king tide threatened to swamp the coastal town.

Amid fears that swelling floodwaters would be unleashed by the tide, the community of 4000 was told to prepare for evacuation and warned that a third of their town could go under water.

SES staff doorknocked 200 low-lying properties asking residents to evacuate and set up a relief centre on high ground, where dozens took shelter.

Last night Lakes Entrance was cut off, with key roads closed, and parts of the town without power.

Authorities are saying last summer’s bushfires here in Victoria are what is helping to worsen the flood conditions:

Bushfires that ravaged Victoria last summer are exacerbating the flood conditions now threatening homes in the state’s east.

More than 1,000 bushfires menaced Victorian communities over a harrowing 69 days during summer, including in East Gippsland.

Almost 1.2 million hectares of land was blackened, with communities in the state’s north and east hardest hit.

State Emergency Service spokesman John O’Brien said the deluge falling in East Gippsland was running off the ground and into creeks.

Australians are definitely happy about the rain even though there is some flooding but scientists say more rain is needed to break the drought:

While the deluge across Gippsland is expected to add considerably to water catchments, the Bureau of Meteorology is warning people not to prematurely celebrate the end of the drought.

Senior meteorologist Phil King said more heavy rain was needed this winter and spring to fill dams across Victoria.

Catchment levels will be checked later today. Melbourne’s largest catchment, the Thomson Dam — which is 17.8 per cent full — had about 60 millimetres of rain.

There is more rain forecasted today so it looks like we will be spending the day indoors.  Here are some more pictures from the floods:

Any bets on how long it will be before someone blames this on global warming?