Floodwaters are beginning to recede in Benalla as residents assess the damage.
Benalla Rural City Council is currently working to fill the array of potholes that appeared on local roads.
BRCC CEO Dom Testoni said the current fixes were temporary, in order to make the road network as safe as possible.
He said permanent fixes would be done in due course.
The flooding overnight on Thursday, October 13, which led to an evacuation order in the CBD, did not reach 1993 levels as was feared.
Benalla Mayor Bernie Hearn said as floodwaters in Benalla Rural City slowly recede, council continued to work closely with emergency service providers to keep the community safe and to protect infrastructure.
“On behalf of the council I thank them all for their efforts,” Cr Hearn said.
An SES spokesperson said from overnight on Thursday, October 13 it responded to 77 requests for help.
With some in the community allowing children to play in floodwater, the spokesperson also reminded people why not to do that.
“In the space of just 10 minutes today, our members observed 10 people walking or playing in the floodwater of a river at major flood level, while rubbish, open chemical containers, and debris floated past — some of them young children,” the spokesperson said.
“Floodwater isn’t ‘fun’ — it’s toxic, and it can kill.
“Floodwater can contain dead livestock, sewage, chemicals, barbed wire fencing and more.
“Submerged drains underneath the surface of floodwater can easily trap and drown an adult, let alone a child.
“Emergency services have responded to more than 120 flood rescues in the last 24 hours. And it’s not good enough.
“When you decide to play in floodwater, you put our volunteers and partner agencies in danger, and you take away valuable resources from others experiencing a traumatic flood emergency.
“Never enter floodwater — it could be the last decision you ever make.”
Walking through Benalla on Saturday morning was surreal. The CFA alarm was sounding, Nunn St was deserted and sporadic sandbagging was visible.
Turning into Bridge St East it was almost as if Thursday and Friday had not happened.
Businesses were open. It looked like none had sustained any flood damage.
Turning towards the Benalla-Monash Bridge there was evidence of the previous day’s events.
At 9.30am it was still closed to traffic, however pedestrians were able to cross.
While there was a moderate flood warning for upstream of Benalla on Saturday, October 15 in the morning, it appears the worst is over.
Many houses have been flooded, many people displaced. Their nightmare is ongoing.
If there is a silver lining, there was no loss of life, or serious injury to anyone in the Rose City.
The SES, who have done an amazing job with warnings and assisting to sandbag properties, as well as evacuating residents, are now turning to elsewhere in the state.
For many members the crisis is not over.
Part of Wangaratta had an evacuation order early Saturday morning.
And communities downstream of Benalla are bracing for flooding.
Shepparton is in real trouble with sandbagging and evacuations under way at the time of writing this.
At the moment the important thing for residents of Benalla is to support each other in the clean-up effort.
Whilst the majority of us avoided flooded homes, many were not so lucky.
While the current information is showing that Benalla is continuing to see receding water levels, it is important to keep up to date with the VicEmergency app and emergency.vic.gov.au/
You can also keep up to date on any changes to the situation via the Benalla Ensign, the VicEmergency, Benalla SES, and Benalla Rural City Council Facebook pages.
If you have any flood photos you would like to share with the community you can email them to editor@benallaensign.com.au.