Australian flooding spreads to Victoria
Source: Agencies |
January 19, 2011, Wednesday
|
Print Edition
Print Edition
AUTHORITIES urged residents to flee more Australian towns yesterday as rivers carried deadly floodwaters deeper into another state and worsened a natural disaster the government says may be its costliest ever.
Victoria is the latest region afflicted in a weeks-long flooding crisis that has left 30 people dead and caused once-a-century floods in many areas.
The Victoria city of Horsham resembled a lake after the Wimmera River overflowed its banks yesterday and bisected the community before starting to recede in the afternoon. About 500 homes in the city of 14,000 people were surrounded by water.
Officials sent three emergency alerts overnight to residents in the path of the high water.
"At 5am they were out on the megaphone just yelling 'evacuate'," West Horsham resident Brett Insall said, but he stayed at his home. "I'm not too worried about it. It's only water."
State Emergency Service Incident Controller Stephen Warren said the water would slowly recede through the day. "We may even be able to get the (Western) highway open late in the day and actually have some access later tonight," Warren told reporters.
Across north-central Victoria state, more than 3,500 people have evacuated with 51 towns and 1,500 properties affected by rising waters.
Floodwaters have already left 1,000 households in Victoria's northwest without power.
Victoria is the latest region afflicted in a weeks-long flooding crisis that has left 30 people dead and caused once-a-century floods in many areas.
The Victoria city of Horsham resembled a lake after the Wimmera River overflowed its banks yesterday and bisected the community before starting to recede in the afternoon. About 500 homes in the city of 14,000 people were surrounded by water.
Officials sent three emergency alerts overnight to residents in the path of the high water.
"At 5am they were out on the megaphone just yelling 'evacuate'," West Horsham resident Brett Insall said, but he stayed at his home. "I'm not too worried about it. It's only water."
State Emergency Service Incident Controller Stephen Warren said the water would slowly recede through the day. "We may even be able to get the (Western) highway open late in the day and actually have some access later tonight," Warren told reporters.
Across north-central Victoria state, more than 3,500 people have evacuated with 51 towns and 1,500 properties affected by rising waters.
Floodwaters have already left 1,000 households in Victoria's northwest without power.
- About Us
- |
- Terms of Use
- |
-
RSS - |
- Privacy Policy
- |
- Contact Us
- |
- Shanghai Call Center: 962288
- |
- Tip-off hotline: 52920043
- 沪ICP证：沪ICP备05050403号-1
- |
- 互联网新闻信息服务许可证：31120180004
- |
- 网络视听许可证：0909346
- |
- 广播电视节目制作许可证：沪字第354号
- |
- 增值电信业务经营许可证：沪B2-20120012
Copyright © 1999- Shanghai Daily. All rights reserved.Preferably viewed with Internet Explorer 8 or newer browsers.
