‘We are not through this’: Thousands still without power as more rain threatens storm recovery

Efforts to reconnect thousands of homes and businesses still without power nearly a week after a storm lashed Victoria could be hampered by more rain on the way over the next few days.

Heavy falls are expected in parts of Gippsland already experiencing flooding, although the Bureau of Meteorology is not expecting similar downpours to those that caused evacuations last week.

An aerial view of flooding in Traralgon in Gippsland on June 10.Credit:Blake Bourne

However, the rain may pose a threat to the state’s energy infrastructure, with a coal mine at the Yallourn power station still at risk of flooding.

Authorities said there was no risk to the energy supply.

About 17,000 Victorian homes and businesses are still without power six days after the storm. Most of those waiting to be reconnected are near the Dandenongs.

Emergency Services Commissioner Andrew Crisp said weather forecasts for coming days had eased a little, but he warned the dangers were not over and it was still possible many trees could fall.

Floodwaters in Yallourn. Credit:Nine News

”A lot of work has been done to assess those killer trees. But again the important message around that is: we are not through this,” he said.

Speaking at Emerald’s State Emergency Service station, Mr Crisp said last week’s storms rendered 98 homes uninhabitable, while a further 86 suffered significant damage. Almost 1200 initial impact assessments had been carried out.

AusNet spokesperson Helina Lilley said there were 16,000 outages on the energy group’s network, with most homes and businesses currently expected to be reconnected by the end of this week.

However, difficult weather conditions forecast for later this week may slow restoration efforts, she said.

Authorities are concerned about flooding at the Yallourn power station.Credit:Joe Armao

“In the Gippsland area, where we still have some people without power, they’re also concerned that tree roots are damaged after the flooding and strong winds,” she said. “It won’t take much for them to fall.”

Minor flood warnings were in place on Tuesday for the Gippsland Lakes, Latrobe River, Thomson River and Yarra River.

Parts of Traralgon in Gippsland were evacuated last week as floodwater gushed into homes, leaving behind a thick layer of brown sludge and debris.

Bureau of Meteorology forecaster Michael Laczko said light rain was expected in Gippsland over the next two days. On Friday, heavier falls of 10 to 25 millimetres are predicted.

“It must be stressed, though, that this is significantly less rainfall than we had last week,” he said. “And it’s not a return to severe weather conditions.”

Mr Laczko said a further 10 to 20 millimetres was expected on Saturday before conditions improved early next week.

The bureau’s flood team was closely monitoring the situation, he said.

“It is likely we will see some renewed river rises, but it’s extremely unlikely we’ll see any renewed flooding concerns. We may see some isolated catchments up to minor flooding again.”

The Latrobe Valley recorded 55.4 millimetres of rain last Wednesday and a further 35.2 millimetres on Saturday.

EnergyAustralia energy executive Liz Westcott said falling river levels on Monday night had revealed further instability in the Morwell River diversion wall.

As a result, she said, a section of the coal mine at Yallourn power station had been evacuated and an exclusion zone established to help mitigate the risk of flooding.

“This includes temporary measures to seal visible cracks and pursue all options to divert the river water and reduce risks,” she said. “Our immediate priority is to stop the water flow.”

Ms Westcott said Yallourn’s generation output was being controlled to conserve coal while ensuring the state’s energy demands are met. Yallourn provides 22 per cent of Victoria’s power, according to EnergyAustralia.

Energy Minister Lily D’Ambrosio said the state’s power supply would not be at risk.

“Australian Energy Market Operator has assured us there are no threats to sufficient power,” she told 3AW radio.

“So Victoria is going to have plenty of power.”

State Emergency Service agency commander Mark Cattell said the organisation had received more than 9000 requests for assistance since the storms began on Wednesday. Many properties were still difficult to reach.

The weather bureau is not expecting a repeat of the high winds that buffeted Victoria last week, sending trees crashing onto power lines and across roads.

“We are expecting some thunderstorms in the northern parts of the state, close to the NSW border,” Mr Laczko said.

“Apart from that we’re not expecting any damaging winds in the forecast period.”

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