By staff writers From: news.com.au March 04, 2012 3:10AM
THE flood crisis gripping NSW and Victoria is not expected to ease until midweek as another deluge is expected in the next 24 hours.
The NSW State Emergency Service fears as little as 20mm of rain today could cause flooding chaos in Cooma, Goulburn and Cowra, where 1500 people have evacuated their homes in preparation for the worst.
In Araluen, south of Braidwood in southern NSW police are searching for a man who was washed down a creek.
At about 7.30pm last night three men in their 40s attempted to cross the swollen Araluen Creek. The four-wheel-drive became stuck and the three men attempted to exit the vehicle, and were washed downstream in the floodwaters.
Police from Monaro Local Area Command, the SES, as well as ambulance paramedics and Fire and Rescue NSW officers responded to the incident and searched for the men.
One of the men was rescued from a tree and another was located downstream. They were both taken to Braidwood Hospital suffering hypothermia and other injuries.
More rain, evacuations, power cuts
In waterlogged northwest Sydney, relentless rain combined with the overflow of the Warragamba Dam to swell the Hawkesbury-Nepean River, threatening the homes of up to 2000 people.
The river is expected to peak at up to 11m in the next 48 hours after some of the heaviest rain in 125 years left vast areas of NSW under water.
Endeavour Energy cut power to around 160 houses along the Hawkesbury and Nepean Rivers to protect emergency service workers and residents from electrocution. The company says it will restore power to the homes as soon as it's deemed safe, but that won't be until at least tomorrow.
Across the New South Wales, 900 people remain under evacuation orders in Cooma, another 600 are unable to return to their homes in Goulburn, and 60 people have been left stranded in Cowra.
Evacuation warnings are in place for 400 people in Queanbeyan near Canberra as emergency services watch the Murrumbidgee River, with major flooding occurring at Gundagai and moderate flooding forecast for Wagga Wagga. At least 2000 people remain isolated by flood waters across the state's north-west.
In Victoria, the army was called in to the Shepparton area ahead of the expected deluge.
About 35 soldiers today helped flood-stricken residents fill and stack more than 30,000 sandbags around their homes and businesses. The town of Katamatite, about 50km northeast of Shepparton, became isolated today with all roads cut off by the advancing waters.
Victorian State Emergency Service state control centre spokeswoman Kim Payne said the SES has already had to rescue five people from cars.
"We're asking people to avoid travelling through north-east Victoria this weekend if possible because it will be a bit tricky,'' she said.
Other towns of concern tonight are Albury, Wodonga, Wangaratta, Myrtleford, Bright and Yarrawonga.
Gordon McKay, manager of the NSW flood watch centre at the Bureau of Meteorology, said overnight the biggest concern was the region stretching from Wagga Wagga to Canberra where up to 100mm is expected to fall over the next 48 hours.
Across the Snowy Mountains more than 100mm of rain is likely to fall into tomorrow.
In the Hawkesbury-Nepean river catchment, 20mm to 30mm was expected in the next 24 hours.
NSW State Emergency Services (SES) commissioner Murray Kear said the Hawkesbury-Nepean River, which swelled after the Warragamba Dam opened its floodgates, had not had that amount of water in decades.
"We would have to go back 20 or 30 years to see some similar peaks," Mr Kear said
Volunteers at evacuation centres are waiting for at least 250 families to come knocking on their doors tonight.
Mandy Brown, coordinator at the Baptist Church evacuation centre on the corner of George Street and Richmond Road, said, "We will be open 24 hours and for as long as needed. We have enough beds, food and people to help out."
Robert Burchill, 73, a retired navy officer, is one of the volunteers who came well-prepared to lend a welcome hand to evacuees from caravan parks in Pitt Town Bottoms, Grono Point and Wilberforce.
Rescue helicopters constantly hover in the grey sky above the townships, SES rescue boats wait on the river and road transport is ready to go, says SES Operations spokeswoman Heidi Groom.
"A lot of families have moved out and some indicated they'd stay behind to keep an eye on their properties," Ms Groom said.
"Some families would be isolated and they have the option to evacuate now because they'd be on their own for a couple of days and they need to be safe and self-sufficient.
"Some families are not on higher ground and they have the option to evacuate now.”
Kevin Connolly, the state MP for Riverstone who had been doing the rounds of evacuation centres, said authorities were keeping an eye out on what else needed to be done.
Relief soon
The BoM is now expecting the rainband which has caused this week's downpours will begin to move slowly to the northeast and weaken later into Monday.
Mr Kear said it has been an unprecedented event.
"There has been an unprecedented amount of rain over a long duration. It's been many, many years since the sheer amount of rainfall.
"This rain event covers 75 per cent of the state."
There have been 43 flood rescues since Monday, with 179 calls for help overnight.
More than 230mm has fallen on Mick Doyle’s property on the Yarrawonga Katamatite Rd
"My father worked the farm, he's 87 and he has never seen anything like this,'' Mr Doyle said.
``It's absolutely unbelievable how much water we have here. It's so deep and it's so wide. You see this kind of stuff on TV and you think that would never happen to me, and here it is.
"We're not going to leave. A man's home is his castle.''