FRIDAY LIVE BLOG: Evacuation warnings remain as Coliban Water prepares Cohuna for flooding | Bendigo Advertiser

Local NBN Victoria chief Emily Peel said staff were working in Rochester and Echuca to restore and maintain services.

According to their data, 700 services are offline with nine damaged FTTN cabinets in the Rochester area.

“We have a lot of work to do in Rochester to get services back online,” Ms Peel said.

“Materials have been arranged overnight for shipment to Rochester today, but local road conditions may affect our ability to get needed parts into town to begin repairs.”

She said in areas where it is safe to do so, technicians will begin work to repair infrastructure and restore services.

“It will depend on local weather conditions and whether flooding returns,” Ms Peel said.

“We are working with the local authorities to ensure the safety of our population and to protect the infrastructures as well as possible.

“As services are gradually restored, there may be a number of individual outages that technicians will need to resolve.”

Ms Peel said the nbn was working closely with local authorities to deploy emergency resources to requested sites.

“There is also community wifi available at the Echuca Evacuation Center which provides a temporary back-up connection to the nbn satellite network in the event of an emergency,” she said.

“These assets help emergency services connect and coordinate their efforts during natural disasters, just as importantly, they provide a vital lifeline to local communities who may have lost online connectivity.”

Video by Peter Newman, via ABC presenter Warwick Long, shows the river flowing backwards under Barmah Bridge.

Warwick said in a response that the water flowing into the Murray from the Goulburn is the origin of the direction of the water.

The Campaspe Shire Council has advised that the River Murray at Echuca Wharf is now expected to peak at 95.3 on Wednesday, slightly lower than the original forecast of 95.9.

Starting Friday, the Murray River will continue to slowly rise.

The Campaspe River from the Ogilvie Avenue Bridge to the mouth of the river will also rise slowly.

Pumps have been installed across Echuca to evacuate the expected rainfall. Residents will see water in the streets.

Please DO NOT touch the pumps, they are monitored 24/7. Each pump will have a contact number to call if needed.

For your safety, please follow the road signs and do not drive through water across the roads. Be sure to stay up to date through trusted sources such as SES Pages, CFA Pages, and VicEmergency.

The state emergency service predicts the Murray River at Echuca could reach about 300 feet on Sunday.

This level is similar to the flood of October 1993 (94.77 m AHD).

The river level could eventually reach around 95.00 m on Tuesday.

Moderate flooding continues along the Campaspe River.

Further rainfall is forecast from Friday and a flood watch signals the possibility of further flooding

Residents of the village of Echuca can expect to be affected over the next few days

An evacuation warning is still in place for the township of Echuca, as officials anticipate properties around the Campaspe River could be affected.

The state emergency service says residents of the village of Echuca can expect to be affected over the next few days.

Rochester residents are also being advised that it is not yet safe to return to the township.

Dangerous flood waters and damaged infrastructure remain, continue to avoid flood affected areas.

Emergency services are working with evacuated residents to understand the severity of the impact to the property. These assessments will continue in the coming days.

It continues to be dangerous to stay in the area due to infrastructure damage and flooding in the area.

Riverine Herald reporter Bransen Gibson captured heartwarming moments as the Echuca community enjoyed the music of singer Heidi Moncrieff as they continued their sandbagging efforts.

With the help of a number of food donations from locals and businesses, Chef Sam Fuller provided free meals to rescue workers and those displaced by the floodwaters.

Since the start of last weekend, the team at the Lockington pub have served over 500 free meals to people in need of a meal.

Goulburn-Murray Water (GMW) asks customers to be understanding if staff need to visit their property after hours to perform emergency maintenance on assets.

With meters and other assets often residing on private land, GMW personnel may be required to visit homes at any time of the day.

GMW distribution services manager Greg Shannon said that while staff still try to phone the property owner if they need to visit a property outside of working hours, the maintenance schedule could make this difficult.

“We always try to notify people if we need to enter their property to repair a property, however, if a property needs repairs at 2am we may not always be able to reach the owner,” a- he declared.

“We understand that it can sometimes be surprising for people to see someone on their property when they are not expecting it, but we ask customers to act with respect when staff visit their properties to carry out these emergency repairs.”

GMW has zero tolerance for both physical and verbal aggressive behavior towards its staff.

Yelling, swearing, threats of violence, and threats with weapons are all examples of aggressive behavior.

“It is crucial for our irrigators that we are able to maintain our assets, but the safety of our staff is paramount,” Mr Shannon said.

“We appreciate the help and understanding of our customers as we seek to ensure that our water distribution systems are efficient and reliable.”

Now just a tap with our new app. Digital subscribers now have the option to receive news faster, at their fingertips with the Bendigo announcer. Find out how to download it below: