CANBERRA, AUSTRALIA (AP) – Flood warnings were issued, hundreds of homes were evacuated, thousands more lost power and a man was missing as heavy rain lashed southeast Australia yesterday.
Rivers across Australia’s most populous states, New South Wales and Victoria, and the island state of Tasmania were rising dangerously with catchments soaked by months of above-average rainfall.
Around 250 homes in the New South Wales city of Forbes, west of Sydney, were ordered to be evacuated ahead of major flooding.
The State Emergency Service issued an order for 17 streets including the central downtown precinct to be evacuated by 8pm, with the Lachlan River expected to reach a major flood peak of 10.6 metres by today.
Police said a 63-year-old man was last seen on Tuesday on a rural property on the Lachlan River near the New South Wales town of Hillston, west of Sydney.
He was reported missing hours later but emergency crews have failed to find any sign of him. Police on Tuesday found the body of a 46-year-old man in his submerged car in floodwater near the city of Bathurst, west of Sydney.
To the south in Victoria, emergency crews rescued at least 23 people driving through floodwaters in rural areas after heavy overnight rain, officials said.
Victoria Premier Daniel Andrews urged people not to drive or walk into floodwaters.
“It’s very dangerous for you, and it’s also very dangerous for the person who has to come to rescue you,” Andrews said.
State Emergency Management Commissioner Andrew Crisp said the heavy rain would reach metropolitan Melbourne, Victoria’s capital and Australia’s most populous city after Sydney.
Officials have been door-knocking along the Maribyrnong River in inner-Melbourne to ensure residents were ready to evacuate if necessary.
The Bureau of Meteorology issued major flood warnings for the Campaspe and another four Victorian waterways.
The Campaspe’s peak at Rochester could exceed a record 9.12 metres set in 2011. That could flood 250 Rochester homes above the floorboards and isolate another 700 homes, the State Emergency Service said.
Nearly 10,000 homes in Victoria were without power overnight, with hundreds yet to be restored, said the State Control Center, which manages Victoria’s emergencies, and electricity distributor Powercor.
