RELATED:
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
- Wimmera floods rolling coverage
- Wimmera floods | your photos, videos
- Worst still to come
- Glenorchy residents prepare for river to peak
- Lake Wallace fills
- Murtoa residents help save house
- Wimmera floods from the sky| photos, video
- Weir open along the Wimmera River
- Halls Gap roads reopen
- Crops fall after heavy rain
- Flood water flows into recreational lakes
FOR a number of Wimmera residents, the joys of flowing rivers and dams have hit a bit too close to home and they are now trapped in their houses.
Wartook’s Julie-Anne and Rob McPherson spent three days hunkered down in their property that backs on to the McKenzie Creek.
Mr McPherson said the couple had been trapped since Tuesday.
“The river runs through our place and it’s just gone crazy,” he said.
“There is flooding everywhere. We’ve got our own lakes on the property and they’re filling, which is good, but the property is split in half. It’s still rising.”
Mr McPherson said he and Julie-Anne were lucky the house was on higher ground and had not been affected.
The couple were unable to go to work for days and said they were simply pottering at home and doing jobs around the house.
Despite the break for reality Mrs McPherson said they hoped the water receded soon so they could get back to normality.
“We’ve run out for milk,” she said. “We had our last cups of coffee on Thursday morning so now we just have to wait for the water to go down.
“We need groceries, we’re going to run out of cat food soon. I think they’re letting more out of Lake Wartook so that’ll come through McKenzie Creek.
“We don’t know how long it will be, it’s overflowing.”
Green Lake’s John Robinson and his wife woke on Thursday to find themselves stranded in their home.
Mr Robinson said water to the west the Bungalally Creek had blocked Reynolds Road completely, and had reduced the eastern dirt section of the road to mud.
“You wouldn’t get ten feet without being completely bogged,” he said.
Mr Robinson said he and his wife expected to be trapped for a couple of days but were well stocked, though could use some more red wine.
“It’s just a matter of waiting until it subsides and then we will return to life as normal,” he said.
Mr Robinson said only kilometres from where they were trapped the pair had a couple of kayaks.
He said he spoke to council on Thursday about upgrading Reynolds Road to ensure it was all gravel.
“Beside this, there is also a lot of through traffic at this time of year but you can’t make use of it,” he said. “It takes people off the highway and allows agricultural machinery to move.”