SES officials have urged Campaspe Shire residents to be prepared as rising river levels in the district cause concern.
Households and streets most at risk of flooding across the municipality will be contacted either in person or by a letterbox drop and urged to attend an upcoming SES community preparedness meeting.
SES community resilience coordinator Tracey White looks after 14 units across the Loddon Murray region — from Echuca to Gisborne.
“We will be getting into contact with households that are situated on a flood plain, have a history of flooding or are most at risk,” Ms White said.
Echuca Village has been identified as one priority area where residents will be contacted in the coming weeks.
As of Sunday, October 2, the level of the Murray River at Echuca was 92.05mAHD.
That figure has risen by 1.6m since the start of September and is
close to six metres higher than early May.
The SES predict the Murray at Torrumbarry Weir could reach 7.70m and 6m in Barham by mid-October.
Ms White said a flood was most likely to occur if a catchment site was over its water capacity and the overflow travels through to the next catchment or channel.
“It might not rain anywhere near you, but because your catchment may be connected via this river to another catchment, you may be likely to be impacted,” Ms White said.
“The third La Nina spring is under way and the Negative Indian Ocean Dipole (IOD) has been announced — these two things combined are a major concern because some catchments are currently sitting close to or at capacity.
“While the La Nina on its own may not necessarily impact the catchments, the Negative IOD can and that’s why we are keeping an eye on both factors.”
As to whether the snow melt could also have an impact, Ms White said water run-off at the end of the ski season could contribute to an increased risk of flooding.
“There’s no need to panic or start moving to higher ground at this stage but it’s always good to stay informed on the Murray Darling Basin website, the Bureau of Meteorology website and the North Central Catchment website,” she said.
These websites can give you an indication of when it could flood and how much time you have to prepare.
The North Central Catchment website also has a software program called Flood Eye that allows you to type in your address and see how a flood could impact that address.
Ms White said people should be taking note of flood warnings and applying it to where they live.
“Make sure you have the Vic Emergency App downloaded onto your phone. You can set a radius, so you will be notified whenever anything occurs within that area,” she said.
“Keep up to date with your local flood gauge as well because that can change from minor to moderate or moderate to major pretty quickly depending on which catchment is affected and where you are in relation to the run off of that catchment.”
The SES have been in communication with BOM on a daily basis.
Ms White said it was a good idea for community members to have a personalised emergency plan in the back of their minds, especially if their house was on a flood plain.
“To be prepared you can make up an emergency kit. Fill up a waterproof tub with torches, a portable radio, supplies of batteries, water, medication, prescriptions, personalised documents, and tinned goods,” she said.
“If anyone is ever evacuated, evacuation centres will be set up, but it’s always good to have your own stock.”
The SES will be providing advice at a number of upcoming community events, such as the Kyabram Show on October 15 and the Echuca-Moama Show on November 5 and 6.
Further to that, they will be holding street meets and frequently posting on the Echuca SES Facebook page, the Echuca Moama community Facebook page, the Channel Echo Cohuna Notice Board, as well as the Rochester community Facebook page.
Ms White said while it was a good idea to be prepared, there was no need to create mass panic.
She said they wanted the community to engage in these conversations because they needed them to be able to help themselves if an emergency situation was ever to arise.
“The main thing we need people to understand is that if there was something to happen, there cannot be a fire truck at every single house and the SES cannot sandbag every individual house,” she said.
“We just cannot be everywhere at once, so we are relying on the community to listen to us, so we can help those who are the most vulnerable, when and if this transpires.
“People need to realise that a lot of the emergency service volunteers who are trying to save you also have houses and families that are in danger and that is why it’s important to prepare.”
If you do live in a high-risk area, be sure to check in on your vulnerable or elderly neighbours.
There are more than 140 local flood guides with relevant risk warnings that can be accessed via the SES Victoria website https://www.ses.vic.gov.au/ or the VicEmergency website on https://emergency.vic.gov.au/respond/