00:00 After days of relentless rain, this is Mallacoota Wharf, submerged in floodwaters.
00:08 The nearby caravan park was also inundated and the only road into and out of town was
00:14 blocked by a landslip.
00:15 "I've never seen so much water in our water system in the 14 years I've lived here."
00:21 The road has since reopened, but several Gippsland towns remain on flood alert.
00:27 Gippsland campers staying near the raging Abon River have been told to move to higher
00:31 ground, while warnings are still in place for the Thompson River, including Hayfield.
00:36 "We can't get to school today or pretty much this week because of the water on the
00:41 roads and our school bus hasn't been able to come get us."
00:44 Nearby in Tanamba, some houses were left isolated as makeshift levees tried to stem the tide.
00:51 "We've got multiple road closures across the region, we continue to see water impacting
00:57 a lot of infrastructure and sort of closing local businesses and that type of thing.
01:02 We probably won't appreciate the full extent of the damage until the floodwaters start
01:06 to recede."
01:07 "Yeah, I've been here eight years and I haven't seen anything like this before."
01:10 There are mixed reactions to the rising rivers here in Gippsland.
01:13 While some people have had to sandbag their houses, others are simply just enjoying the
01:18 day off and spirits remain high.
01:21 "It is beautiful, very good for the farmers and I've got a dam that needs filling up,
01:25 which is filling up nicely, so it's really good."
01:28 This pub in Newry has even seen a bump in business.
01:31 "Everyone's washed out, celebrating the rain."
01:34 "We're no strangers to adversity out here in East Gippsland and times like this really
01:38 do see our community band together to support each other, so I think it's fair to say
01:44 we're a fairly resilient mob."
01:46 Conditions are expected to ease over the weekend.
01:48 [BLANK_AUDIO]
Comments