The Murrumbidgee at 9.72m on Friday 4 Nov. Photo: Matt Notle.
UPDATED: 2:30pm Friday 4 Nov
The rise of the Murrumbidgee River at Wagga has slowed throughout Friday with the level creeping past 9.7m before 7 am and hovering around 9.72 m into the late afternoon with the SES expecting a peak of 9.8 m by Friday night.
SES Incident Controller Barry Griffiths said that there were no reports of inundations inside the North Wagga levee and emergency crews had retained access into the early afternoon.
“There’s a section of Mill Street that has been isolated at the moment and we’re keeping in contact with anybody who’s chosen to isolate in that area there,” he said.
“From what we can see there’s no property damage.”
He said emergency services are keeping a close eye on the situation to Wagga’s East with water across sections of the Sturt Highway.
“Flooding always behaves in a different manner every time we go, so we are focusing at the moment on that East Wagga sector,” he said.
“Not so much from a property protection point of view, more the fact that if the roads gonna get cut, anybody that needs to traverse over Marshals Creek Bridge could get isolated,”
“We’re reasonably confident at the moment that we won’t need to close that bridge,” Mr Griffiths said.
“But we are doing some scenarios around the potential to close that bridge which may involve a short term isolation of businesses in the industrial area.”
Water across Hammond Av in East Wagga on Friday. Photo: Matt Notle.
The Big 4 Caravan Park was evacuated on Thursday afternoon and traveler Michael Ellis said they received a text message to leave the park by 6 pm.
“We’d been watching the river come up and up and thought we’d be alright, but they said we should move while we still had daylight,” he said.
Like many others in campervans, Michael relocated to the Wagga Showgrounds where the filling of sandbags continues.
“We’ve been getting heaps of volunteers coming down,” said SES Volunteer Jordan Coggen.
“We’re cooking with gas now, we’ve got plenty of sand and we’re always keen for more people to come and help out.”
More volunteers are needed to take up a shovel at the Wagga Showgrounds. Photo: Chris Roe.
You can stay up to date with the latest alerts on the Hazard Watch page here, the Murrumbidgee SES Facebook page here, and you can keep an eye on the river heights here.
For emergency help in floods and storms, call the NSW SES on 132 500.
In life-threatening situations, call triple zero (000) immediately.
Kooringal Road intersection Copland Street on Friday Nov 4. Photo: Matt Notle
8:00am Friday 4 Nov
The Murrumbidgee River exceeded the Major flood level of 9.6 metres on Thursday night and is heading towards a peak of around 9.8 metres later today (Friday, 4 November).
The river reached 9.7 metres just before seven o’clock this morning.
The level is higher than the December 2010 flood, and similar to the June 1952 flood but still far short of 2012 levels.
Hundreds of residents have evacuated North Wagga, which is now closed to anyone except emergency personnel.
Police are directing traffic through major intersections with sections of the Sturt Hwy closed in Wagga’s East. Photo: Chris Roe.
The Sturt Highway was closed in both directions in East Wagga last night as water crossed Hammond Avenue and there is heavy traffic across the city as police manage major intersections and divert traffic through alternate routes.
Hammond Ave is closed at the Tasman Rd roundabout and there are also road closures in place at Lawson and Blaxland St.
Copland St is closed between Kooringal Rd and Lockyer Pl; Kooringal Rd is closed between Copland and Hammond Ave.
The Olympic Highway remains slow between Junee and Wagga with motorists enduring hours long delays on Thursday.
The situation remains dynamic and motorists are advised to stay up to date via livetraffic here and with local road closures here.
The SES is calling for volunteers to fill sandbags at the Showgrounds. Photo: Matt Nolte.
Large numbers of volunteers have been helping emergency services fill sandbags at the Wagga Showgrounds.
Local state MP Dr Joe McGirr urged anyone with time to spare to head down and join the team behind the grandstand as he took up a shovel himself along with Federal MP Michael McCormack.
You can stay up to date with the latest alerts on the Hazard Watch page here, the Murrumbidgee SES Facebook page here, and you can keep an eye on the river heights here.
For emergency help in floods and storms, call the NSW SES on 132 500.
In life-threatening situations, call triple zero (000) immediately.
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