Related News:
Victoria Forecast to Get More Rain After the Worst Flooding in a Decade
Australia’s Victoria state is forecast to receive more rain this week after the worst flooding in more than a decade caused homes in rural areas to be evacuated even as wheat crops benefited.
“The next rain is moving in on Thursday and it’s certainly going to have some impact in the flood areas,” Melbourne-based Bureau of Meteorology forecaster Richard Carlyon said by phone.
Victoria’s State Emergency Service has received more than 4,000 assistance requests and evacuated more than 300 homes and businesses after some areas received record 24-hour September rainfalls. Premier John Brumby said today he would appoint a flood-recovery taskforce.
“The floods have caused significant damage to public and private assets across the state,” Brumby said in a statement on the government’s website. “This will be a multi-million dollar clean up, recovery and rebuilding effort.”
Australia’s eastern states recorded above-average rainfall in some regions this winter, boosting crops such as wheat and replenishing dams. Victoria had its wettest August since 1981, according to the Bureau of Meteorology.
“The ground was saturated to start off with and then we have ended up with the biggest rain so far this year falling last weekend,” Carlyon said today. “It just ran straight into the rivers.”
Damage to farms from the latest flooding was limited so far, according to the Victorian Farmers Federation today.
Wheat Regions
Rain in the state’s cropping regions was still likely to be beneficial ahead of this year’s harvest, Chris Sounness, acting grains program manager at the Victorian Primary Industries Department, said by phone today from Horsham.
“There will be individual farmers who have lost some crops, but in general the potential for Victoria to produce a bigger crop now, than was the potential last week, is higher,” he said. Victoria is forecast to be the nation’s fourth-largest wheat-growing state this harvest, according to the Australian Bureau of Agricultural and Resource Economics.
Agricultural damage included sheep losses and damage to fencing, the farmers federation said.
Flooded areas may receive a further 15 millimeters (0.6 inch) to 25 millimeters this week, alpine areas may get 20 millimeters to 50 millimeters and the Mallee wheat-growing region may get 10 to 15 millimeters, Carlyon said.
The north-central town of St Arnaud had received 100 millimeters in the past week, including a record 24-hour September fall of 65 millimeters, according to the bureau. Mt Buffalo in the state’s northeast got 262 millimeters in the past seven days, while Sea Lake in the Mallee received 48 millimeters.
The rain and flooding was unlikely to have any significant effect on an expected locust plague this year, Victorian Agriculture Minister Joe Helper said in a statement.
Water storages in the Murray Darling Basin, which produces more than a third of Australia’s food, were half full as of Sept. 1 as the area recovers from drought. The basin covers parts of Queensland, New South Wales, Victoria and South Australia.
To contact the reporter on this story: Wendy Pugh in Melbourne at wpugh@bloomberg.net
Rate These Stories
Rate this Page