Two Launceston suburbs remained on high alert on Tuesday morning as flood waters reached their peak and rescuers continued to search for two men missing after the worst flooding in Tasmania in 40 years.
Floodgates have been secured and sirens prepared in low-lying Trevallyn and Invermay, where flood waters were expected to peak about 10am on Wednesday. About 3,000 residents and 800 businesses are in danger of flooding in the areas.
The emergency is over in Longford, in Tasmania’s northern midlands, where levees survived the peak of the South Esk river late on Tuesday. It is hoped the crisis will ease on Wednesday, with less than 5mm of rainfall forecast for Tasmania’s north-east, according to the Bureau of Meteorology.
Trevallyn has peaked. Latest flood warnings are available at https://t.co/NHL3HY0zFO #BigWetTas pic.twitter.com/HIDpoWNqYd
— BOM Tasmania (@BOM_Tas) June 8, 2016
Search efforts have resumed for two men who went missing during floods at Ouse and Evandale, including an 81-year-old who was swept into the rising Ouse river while feeding sheep in his backyard on Monday.
The other man, a 63-year-old, is missing after his car was swept away in Evandale on Tuesday. His wife was rescued by helicopter but the aerial search was unable to find her husband.
The body of Mary Kathleen Allford was found in her flooded Latrobe home on Tuesday. The 75-year-old had been unable to reach the rescuers who plucked her husband off their roof the previous day.
More than 100 people have been rescued by helicopter from Tasmanian flood waters since the emergency began. The SES has received almost 400 calls for assistance, while more than 200 properties have been flooded across the state.
As flood waters fall, authorities are urging people to obey road closure signs and follow previous safety messages. People should not attempt to drive through or enter flood waters.
Search crews on Tuesday afternoon rescued a man in his 40s whose upturned kayak was stuck in a submerged tree near the Ouse river. The man had used the kayak to try to enter his property, which had been cut off by the river.
