A distraught caravan park manger has spoken of her shock and disbelief at the devastating speed at which River Murray floodwaters rose and inundated her park.
Buildings and caravans are now underwater at the Blanchetown Caravan Park in the South Australian Riverland region after a nightmare weekend.
In a social media post, manager Cassie Powell said the rising waters had given her the scare of her life.
She said it now looked like ‘a water tsunami’ had hit the park.
“The amount of damage is unbelievable,” she said.
The Adelaide Advertiser said Ms Powell said she couldn’t express how dangerous it had been and how fast it happened.
The DefenCell technology works the same way as a sandbag but at a larger scale. PIC: SASES
“To anybody out there on the river, if you think you have another day, you more than likely don’t,” she said. “We thought we had another day, but unfortunately when the water broke the bank down where the Murray Princess docks, the water was spewing into the backwaters like a big Niagara Falls … in all my life, I don’t think I have ever experienced something so scary and devastating.”
The ABC reports that the Murray is now expected to peak at 190–220 gigalitres per day at the end of the month. Lower flow peaks had previously been predicted for early and then mid-December.
As authorities admit they are unsure just how much water is coming down the river, SES chief executive Chris Beattie told the Adelaide Advertiser that emergency services were bracing for ‘inevitable’ levee failures.
The SES was forced to evacuate Riverbend Caravan Park last Wednesday, after a number of defects were found in the property’s private levee.
The SES has started work on the final flood barriers to protect against maximum water flows. As well as sandbags, a new DefenCell technology – which can be deployed faster than traditional sandbags and used to protect larger areas – will be erected in number of towns.
SES chief of staff, Derren Halleday, said that authorities expected to complete all flood mitigation works before the water peak hit.
“SASES personnel, in collaboration with a range of government agencies, private contractors and volunteers, have been working tirelessly over the past weeks to ensure the DefenCell, earthen levees and sandbag walls are in place to assist in mitigating the flood impact to communities,” he said.
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Sadly more will be coming as there is snow falling on the mountains and forecast right up to Christmas.
Although snow melt is water it is not massive. A foot of snow has a lot of air in it and when melted a foot of snow might only be a couple of inches of water.
Also it is so far from where the curent flooding is that the flood water will be in the ocean before the snow melt reaches Mildura.
If we don’t get any more big rains and I don’t think any are forecast, the snow melt will not pose any problems.