Victoria begins mammoth clean-up after floods

<p class=”mol-para-with-font”>Victorians have started the mammoth task of cleaning up after devastating floods left two dead and 64,000 people without power.</p><p class=”mol-para-with-font”>Gippsland and the Yarra Ranges were hit with rising flood levels overnight, with people in the Traralgon area subject to an evacuation order.</p><p class=”mol-para-with-font”>Emergency services are surveying the damage, having predicted rising flood levels in the Yarra River at Yarra Glen, the Thomson River near Sale and Traralgon Creek near Traralgon.</p><p class=”mol-para-with-font”>Anyone living, working or holidaying in the Traralgon Creek area was ordered to evacuate before nightfall on Friday.</p><div class=”artSplitter mol-img-group” style=”style”> <div class=”mol-img”> <div class=”image-wrap”> </div> <noscript> </noscript> </div> <p class=”imageCaption”>Gippsland and the Yarra Ranges were hit with rising flood levels overnight, with people in the Traralgon area subject to an evacuation order</p></div><div class=”artSplitter mol-img-group” style=”style”> <div class=”mol-img”> <div class=”image-wrap”> </div> <noscript> </noscript> </div> <p class=”imageCaption”>Major flooding is possible at Traralgon town from Saturday afternoon, with the creek expected to reach the ‘moderate’ flood level of 4m by mid-morning</p></div><p class=”mol-para-with-font”>Major flooding is possible at Traralgon town from Saturday afternoon, with the creek expected to reach the ‘moderate’ flood level of 4m by mid-morning.</p><p class=”mol-para-with-font”>Some 300 buildings in the area have already been impacted by floodwater, and 14 roads have been closed.</p><p class=”mol-para-with-font”>Moderate flooding is also occurring along the Thomson River near Sale and Wandocka.</p><p class=”mol-para-with-font”>River levels are falling, but renewed rises are possible with more rain forecast for the catchment on Saturday.</p><p class=”mol-para-with-font”>Stretches of the South Gippsland Highway are now closed due to the flooding.</p><p class=”mol-para-with-font”>Residents along the Yarra River from Millgrove to Coldstream are advised to evacuate if it becomes necessary.</p><p class=”mol-para-with-font”>The Yarra River at Yarra Glen peaked overnight at moderate flood levels but the river is still rising in Christmas Hills and Warrandyte.</p><p class=”mol-para-with-font”>Victoria has been relentlessly lashed with gusty winds and heavy rainfall since Wednesday night and two people have died in the dangerous conditions.</p><p class=”mol-para-with-font”>A young woman was found in a vehicle in floodwaters at Glenfyne, 200km southwest of Melbourne, on Friday, and a man’s body was found in his submerged car at the Gippsland town of Woodside on Thursday.</p><p class=”mol-para-with-font”>SES Victoria has had more than 7400 requests for help, with about 5800 related to fallen trees.</p><p class=”mol-para-with-font”>Victoria SES chief officer Tim Wiebusch said as of mid-Friday afternoon, 100 roads remained closed, particularly through the Dandenong Ranges.</p><div class=”mol-img-group floatRHS” style=”style”> <div class=”mol-img”> <div class=”image-wrap”> </div> <noscript> </noscript> </div> <p class=”imageCaption”>Victoria Police said she is believed to be a woman named Nina who went missing from nearby Simpson on Wednesday</p></div><p class=”mol-para-with-font”>A strong wind warning was also issued on Friday for Gippsland Lakes and the eastern and central Gippsland coasts.</p><p class=”mol-para-with-font”>Those already in a safe place in Gippsland are urged to stay put for the next 24 to 48 hours when most of the flooding is expected to move through.</p><p class=”mol-para-with-font”>Authorities are pleading with locals not to drive through floodwaters after a 20-year-old woman’s body was found in flood waters southwest of Melbourne.</p><p class=”mol-para-with-font”>The body is the second fatality related to the wild weather that has lashed Victoria this week.</p><p class=”mol-para-with-font”>The body was found inside her ute in flood waters off Maddens Bridge Rd at Glenfyne, about 200km from Melbourne, on Friday morning.</p><p class=”mol-para-with-font”>Victoria Police said she is believed to be a woman named Nina who went missing from nearby Simpson on Wednesday.</p><p class=”mol-para-with-font”>A report will be prepared for the coroner, but the death is not being treated as suspicious.</p><p class=”mol-para-with-font”>A man was found dead in his submerged car at the coastal Gippsland town of Woodside on Thursday afternoon. </p><div class=”artSplitter mol-img-group” style=”style”> <div class=”mol-img”> <div class=”image-wrap”> </div> <noscript> </noscript> </div> <p class=”imageCaption”>The body was found inside a her ute (pictured) in flood waters off Maddens Bridge Rd at Glenfyne, about 200km from Melbourne, on Friday morning</p></div><div class=”artSplitter mol-img-group” style=”style”> <div class=”mol-img” style=”height: auto;”> <div class=”image-wrap”> </div> <noscript> </noscript> </div> <p class=”imageCaption”>A map showing where the woman’s body was found on Friday and where a man was found dead on Thursday </p></div><div><div data-track-module=”am-related_carousel^related_carousel” data-track-selector=”.rotator-panels a:not([class*=external])” data-dm-rotator-rotate=”false” data-track-pos=”static” data-preferred-shared-network-enabled=”” data-dm-rotator-auto-init=”” id=”p-28″ class=”related-carousel with-fb-or-tw news” data-dm-rotator-active-class=”active” data-dm-rotator-page-count=”1.0″ data-dm-social-article-auto-init=”” data-dm-rotator-page-size=”1″> <div class=”rotator bdrcc”> <div class=”rotator-title”> <h2>RELATED ARTICLES</h2> <ul class=”rotator-pages link-xocc”> <li class=”rotator-prev”>Previous