Mick and Kerry Wickham say their home of 17 years at Kaarimba, north of Shepparton, is not in a flood zone and yet 1.8 metres of floodwater still went through it during the recent floods.
“It was Monday the 17th (of October). We were actually away at the time,” Mrs Wickham said.
“We were in the Flinders Ranges. We still went on our holiday because we’d never, ever, in all the floods, flooded there before.”
Family convinced the couple to cut their holiday short though, and while driving home they were told their house was going under.
“A friend brought 20 guys out to sandbag our place,” Mrs Wickham said.
“At that stage we didn’t know how bad things were, and then he rang us back about two hours later and he goes, he was basically in tears saying ... sorry, I can’t keep going,” Mrs Wickham said, overcome with emotion.
“He just said, ‘Wicko, mate, we can’t save your house,’ and it ended up being 1.8m in the house,” Mr Wickham said.
“We still can’t get to it. I bought a set of waders just to walk in there.”
The Wickhams blame what they call mismanagement of nearby Loch Garry by Goulburn-Murray Water for their house and a granny flat, where their daughter and granddaughter live, being under water.
“Goulburn-Murray Water and this bloody loch. Seventy four, ’93, 2010, 2016, the loch system works and this failed for some reason, because of poor maintenance,” an emotional Mr Wickham said.
“They couldn’t get the bars out, because all the other years, I’ve been in this area all my life, and all the other years they had people manning the loch 24 hours a day so when it needed to get to whatever point it had to get to, well they were ‘Johnny on the spot’ and pulling bars.
“This time they had to leave Shepparton and get out there. By the time they get out there the loch was swollen, it was overflowing so they couldn’t pull the bars.”
The Wickhams said G-MW had refused to help pump water away from the house so they could start the process of assessment and repair.
The couple said the scale of the pumping required was too large and expensive for them to do and they needed help from G-MW just to get access to their house.
G-MW emergency controller Peter Holland said he could not comment on individual cases, but said a review of operating procedures would be done.
“It is standard protocol for G-MW to review operating procedures after major flood events like the one that was recently experienced,” he said.
G-MW said approximately half of the bars holding back water were removed when the loch was initially “operated” on Sunday, October 16, but the rising water level made it “physically impossible and unsafe” for staff to continue, putting those difficulties down to the “unprecedented flooding”.
However, Mr Holland also said: “G-MW staff are able to effectively implement the operating rules within the prescribed time frames. These operational actions are not subject to consideration of cost and resource.”
State Member for Northern Victoria Wendy Lovell has been advocating for the Wickhams, and said the state government should have stepped in to help them.
“The Wickham family has been abandoned by the Andrews Labor Government, that has offered them no solutions or hope of returning to their family home,” Mrs Lovell said.
“Jaclyn Symes is not only the responsible minister but also one of their local members and must meet with Michael and Kerry and provide them with every assistance to see them return to their home as soon as possible.”
Ms Symes is the Emergency Services Minister and has defended the government’s reaction to the flooding disaster.
“In addition to initial relief grants, the Australian and Victorian governments have announced an $877 million recovery support package, supporting businesses, farmers, and not-for-profits to rebuild and return to trade as quickly as possible, following the recent devastating floods,” a spokesperson said.
“The Victorian Government has also announced more than $152 million this week in additional support for housing, household bills, legal support and access to local services.”
Victorians can contact the Flood Recovery Hotline on 1800 560 760 for assistance with payments, clean-up or any other flood issues.