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Monday, October 17, 2022
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TAKING STOCK : SES Wangaratta unit‘s Tom Willoughby assesses floodwaters at Wangaratta‘s Apex Park, after the Ovens River passed the major flood level for the first time since October 2016, inundating the region‘s roadways, threatening households and isolating communities throughout the North East. Rising waters almost completely submerged local flood marker yogi bear, whose fishing rod and snorkel could be seen protruding from the water throughout the weekend. PHOTO: Ryan Malcolm
WET OUTLOOK
DANGEROUS major flooding has threatened homes and left entire communities isolated in recent days, following a torrential downpour which saw both the Ovens and King rivers breach the major flood level. Rainfall totals of almost 100mm were recorded across the Ovens and King catchment in the 48 hours to 9am Friday, with
Major M j flooding di g hit hits region, gi , h houses evacuated t d with ith more rain i tto come BY RYAN MALCOLM rmalcolm@ nemedia.com.au
Mount Hotham and Bright among the hardest hit, with 99.4mm and 81.1mm falling respectively. Similar relentless falls were experienced
throughout the King Valley, with 72mm of rain at Cheshunt from 9am Thursday into Friday resulting in the King River quickly rising to the major flood level, isolating communities and causing significant damage to riverside properties. The Ovens River eclipsed the major flood
level at Wangaratta on Friday evening, peaking at 12.78m around 3am on Saturday as floodwaters quickly spread through the region, endangering the Parfitt Road levee bank and resulting in 65 people evacuated to the GoTAFE Café at Docker Street while crews assessed the levvee’s structural integrity.
One home north of Wangaratta experienced over-floor flooding, while a number of other residences in the region saw floodwaters encroach and cause under-floor flooding. Wangaratta SES incident controller Brendan Corboy said water levels had risen
rapidly throughout the weekend. “On Friday afternoon we had a (Bureau of Meteorology) prediction that the river would rise to 12.6m, which would have been below the major flood level - that was revised overnight up to 12.8m,” he said. ■ Continued pages 2 and 3
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