Wild weather eases in Tasmania after flooding peaks

ABC NEWS (Australia)

Residents in Tasmania are getting some respite as weather conditions ease but there are now warnings that could change in the next 48 hours.

Transcript

00:00Yeah, here in New Norfolk, the flood levels have eased.

00:05Here in the lower-lying part of town, a lot of the houses around me had water lapping

00:09at their door, but those have come down now from their peak of 2.8 metres.

00:13It has allowed some of the residents here to return to their properties and check to

00:17see what damage is around the area around their properties, but there is still the caravan

00:23park nearby where some people were living that has still got a fair bit of water there

00:28as well.

00:29The golf club behind me has got water against it and sandbags, and the rowing club nearby

00:34is still at its base, got water down.

00:38Further up in the Derwent Valley, where there was an evacuation order, there is still quite

00:44a fair bit of flooding and some residents there have been able to go back to the property

00:51if it is safe to do so with the flood warning downgraded to moderate today.

00:58Despite the easing today, authorities have warned that people aren't out of the woods.

01:02They're warning that another cold front is expected to hit the state in coming days,

01:06delivering more wind and more rain, although much of that rain will be contained to the

01:11west and north-west of the state.

01:14They are still expecting flood waters to remain high for a couple of days, and the SES is

01:19urging people to be cautious whether their properties are affected by the recent floods

01:24or the wind that's been battering the state or any kind of adverse condition.

01:29Here's Mick Lowe from the SES earlier today.

01:32We do ask people and the community to remain cognisant of the river levels.

01:39They will remain elevated, and we continue to ask people to please stay aware of the

01:44conditions and do not drive through flood waters.

01:49Water through homes above the floorboards, or that's not clear.

01:53You mentioned the rowing club and the bowls club.

01:55Has there been any actual damage there with water through the buildings, or have they

02:00been successful at keeping the water out?

02:05An SES worker we spoke to slightly earlier said that the caravan park had quite a bit

02:10of damage from the water that's there, just from a lot of debris that had been dragged

02:15up the river and has now been deposited there.

02:19Properties next to us, they had some of their garages, floods, and quite a bit of their

02:23property was in that.

02:24The gardens had been completely destroyed.

02:27The bowls club, which is here at the moment, all of their greens at the moment are still,

02:32and this is 24 hours after the peak, about two to three inches underwater, and their

02:36club rooms have got water through them, so there is a fair bit to mop up.

02:40And what's the mood there?

02:44The community has really come together in the past few days.

02:47Last night when we were here as the flood waters were rising, there were groups of people

02:51helping residents move out.

02:53There's been property owners who've been offering to take on pets, just whether that's

02:57a small guinea pig or a dog or anything like that, just to make it one less thing for people

03:02to worry about.

03:03As well, a local Indian restaurant in Hobart has driven up to the Derwent Valley and is

03:08offering free food to anyone who's been displaced.

03:11We were there a bit earlier and they told us they had enough butter chicken to feed

03:15two to three hundred people, many of whom were just parked at the football oval just

03:22nearby.

03:23People have been doing what they can to help those in their time of need.

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