Residents of the far west NSW township of Menindee could be inundated by record levels of flooding as emergency workers scramble to keep the community safe.
Evacuation warnings for the township and surrounding low-lying areas were issued on Thursday and the State Emergency Service and Bureau of Meteorology say residents who stay should prepare for rapid water level increases over the weekend.
Flood levels are predicted to reach a peak on Friday evening of 10.7 metres, higher than the 1976 flood record, as increased flows out of the Menindee Lakes occur, a bureau spokesperson said.
“Further rises are possible, and the situation is being closely monitored and predictions will continue to be revised,” the spokesperson said.
Heavy rainfall and flooding has meant over 9000 gigalitres, or five times the capacity of the Menindee Weir, has come into the system this year.
WaterNSW, which manages the weir, said large volumes of water had already been released over the past 12 months but that heavy rainfall meant the lakes had remained above their full supply level since February.
SES executive incident controller Jeff Butler said the NSW SES had door-knocked on Thursday night giving evacuation warnings to residents on 23 properties located in the highest risk areas.
Most people opted to stay at home, he said.
With water levels remaining below 10 metres, not all the 23 at-risk homes have been inundated and those which are surrounded by flood waters are still accessible by boat.
The SES has undertaken 14 jobs over the past 24 hours, including assisting with two evacuations, two flood rescues, and 10 requests for assistance with flood mitigation.
Mr Butler said emergency services were continuing to watch water levels but remained confident they could handle whatever nature threw at them.
“If we get to that 10.7 metres, that will certainly be the record for that area. I think that will come with its own challenges we’ll need to respond to,” he said.
“At this stage, we’re confident we have the appropriate resources in place to assist the community with whatever’s coming their way.”
An evacuation centre has been set up at the Menindee Community Centre with prior SES warnings claiming people could be isolated until mid-January if they remained in their homes.
Surf Life Saving NSW said in a statement that volunteer life savers were in Menindee to assist in on-water rescues at the request of the SES.
“Skillsets from the ocean are largely transferable and any local inductions were undertaken with the SES,” the statement said.
BoM forecasts that weather conditions in Menindee will be mostly dry over the next few days, although showers and thunderstorms may occur east of the town.
There will be a low chance of showers near Menindee on Sunday and Monday afternoon, the bureau said.
