GLENORCHY residents have bunkered down in anticipation of a predicted Wimmera River peak on Thursday night. 

Resident Dave Wilson, who lives 200 metres from the river bank, said people were prepared but not alarmed.

“We’re reasonably confident it won’t inundate the town too much,” he said. 

“In the previous two floods we’ve had, the water came really quick.

“This flood has been rising slowly since Wednesday.

“There is a concern that the previous flood came up quick and left quick – this one’s slow so it mighjt hang around a couple of days.

“That’s the general consensus.”

Mr Wilson said the town had banded together with the support of emergency services and lent a hand to resident ahead of the excepted peak on Thursday.

“A little bit of water is starting to run into drains, but it’s not too high that the drains can’t cope,” he said.

Horsham Incident Control Centre and district 17 operation officer Trevor Ebbles said the rising river was expected to break its banks sometime on Thursday night into Friday. 

Emergency services deemed the river was at major flood levels throughout Wednesday and Thursday.

On Thursday the river reached 4.87 metres, with further rises expected. Mr Ebbles said Wimmera residents would see river rises downstream of Glenorchy later this week.

“We believe Glenorchy is prepared and the word is residents are comfortable,” he said.