Australia ‘inland sea’ flood threatens towns – ‘The most significant flooding since records began 130 years ago’
MELBOURNE, 21 Jan 2011 (AFP) — Australia’s flood crisis deepened Saturday with a giant “inland sea” threatening more communities in the southeast, as officials continued the grim search for bodies in worst-hit Queensland.
Sandbagging was underway in some villages in Victoria, where weeks of floods have affected as much as one-third of the state, with swollen rivers overflowing in 75 towns and flooding some 1,770 properties. “We know that this is the most significant flooding in the north west of Victoria since records began .. about 130 years ago,” a spokeswoman for the State Emergency Service told AFP. “We are still on alert for towns in the north of the state.” Floodwaters which national broadcaster ABC described as a moving “inland sea” covering an area 90 kilometres (56 miles) long and 40 kilometres wide, were threatening towns around Swan Hill, some 300 kilometres northwest of Melbourne. “In the actual Swan Hill township itself, we are very confident that the levee system around the town is built to a very high grade and will protect the township,” Mayor Greg Cruickshank told ABC radio. But rural and outlying areas “will have significant amount of inundation through them,” he said. While thousands of people around the state have been urged to evacuate, emergency services warned that those people who choose to remain on their properties in the rural areas could be stranded by the floods. “A number of these communities will be isolated for days as this huge amount of floodwater comes through,” SES spokesman Kevin Monk said. … About 400 police were involved in search and clean-up efforts on Saturday and Ipswich Mayor Paul Pisasale said the strain of the extended crisis was telling. “I think people are tired now, they’re fragile and there’s a lot of issues in regards money and support,” he told ABC. The floods which shut down Brisbane, the country’s third largest city, also dumped tonnes of debris — including cars, parts of buildings, and boats — into the Brisbane River which the navy was Saturday working to clear. …
Australian ‘inland sea’ flood threatens towns 
By Kate Hagan, with Paul Millar and AAP
January 20, 2011 ABOUT 9000 Victorians have been told to flee as flooding continues to threaten half a dozen towns including Kerang, where residents who choose to stay could be isolated for a week and left without power. A quarter of the state has been affected by the most significant flooding in Victoria’s north since records began 130 years ago. Authorities warn that Kerang’s power station is under threat from rising water and up to 20,000 households should be prepared for extended blackouts. Yesterday 400 people were taken to the NSW town of Barham. Eventually, police said, as much as half of Kerang’s population would seek refuge in NSW. Embankments were continuing to hold in Kerang last night despite some small breaches but the situation will remain precarious into the weekend. Up to 1500 homes may be flooded. The Koondrook-Kerang Road was expected to close last night, shutting off the only remaining road out of town. About 3000 people have registered at relief centres and more than 1700 properties have been flooded or are at risk. The State Emergency Service’s deputy director of operations, Tim Wiebusch, said smaller communities in the state’s north-west were under threat including Dimboola, Jeparit, Brim and Beulah, where flood levels were expected to peak in the coming days. Evacuation orders were in place last night for Warracknabeal, Dimboola, Pyramid Hill, Quambatook and Culgoa. In Warracknabeal, Yarriambiack Creek is expected to put pressure on levees until tomorrow.
