Licola Flood damage.

Tim,

Thanks for the update.

I guess glendaggie would be chockers also - good for irrigators in summer.

Was there much of the macalister river catchment burn in the recent fires?
If it was then I would hazard a guess that the fires contributed to the severity of the event. The loss of large amounts of foliage and ground veg would probably reduce the bushes abilty to trap and store - resulting in run off faster and in greater volumes. - Other wise is was just a bl$$dy big rain storm!

I guess the marathon road could still be used for access.

bugga of a way to break a drought.

Paul.

Was wondering Tim, how you were faring. Not knowing where you live exactly. Tried other phone numbers of friends in the area and numbers rang out. Could be water in the pipes I guess. Old colleague who used to live on the Lindenow flats, no longer does, but old house and dairy site flooded, tractor, diesel pumps and the like.

Sounds pretty bad Tim , we often head to snow that way to , but I guess not this year.

Looks like licola may really be a 4wd destination for quite a while, always prefferred the river crossing instead of using Cheynes bridge but this is pretty hard on those who use it to earn a living.

Hard to believe after our recent drive there just after the fires.

I really like the recent 4wd vic idea to gather and bring business to Rainbow area , we may have to do something like this for gipps area if powers that be don't prevent access and loss of business to area like at Xmas.

Robin Miller

Saw on the bureau website that Glenmaggie lists 35,000 megalitres a day as a major flood, 2 days ago it was spilling at 108,000...... Sounds significant to me.
I was talking to a friend yesterday, considering they've had drought, fire and flood, I asked what next? Pestilence???
Nick

G'day all,

Stratford was cut off for a while - about a day, but no damage to town. A lot were without power for about 18hrs - we still had power and lent the 2.0 Honda out to friends. Major complaint - cold wet days with the kids home from school without power!!!

There were also reports of caravans going over the weir wall at Glenmaggie - they got washed down from Paradise Valley camping area.

The school camp also got wiped out and their canoes etc are stuck at the wall.

The reports I heard was that there were at least 7,000 Ml going in per hour - but I think this was a bit conservative. The weir at Glenmaggie are still monitoring water coming in and trying to let water out without going over the 'moderate' flood level. The problem seems to be letting everyone know before the water gets to them - some people headed back to farms and home only to have to get out again as the water rises.

Bit of a challenge for everyone concerned.

Police did 92 rescue/extractions on Thursday, using RAAF Rescue chopper, police chopper, boats and 4WDs.

The weather people are still saying it may get worse next week - have to wait and see.

If you go to the link below you'll see the amount of water going into Glenmaggie - fairly impressive flows!

Site Link

Hi all, access to Licola is possible via Mt Useful (through the snow!). It could be up to 18 months before full access is available as the Mt Skene Rd to Jamesion is damaged as well, and the Mt Tamboritha Rd is badly damaged (non existent in places). Tim what did your boss think when the chopper lost an engine?
Darryn