Flood conditions are starting to ease in Victoria’s Gippsland, but emergency warnings remain in some areas. Swollen river systems are causing headaches for residents around Bairnsdale, Maffra and Orbost after some areas received double their average monthly totals in just one day. But some good news for Mallacoota in the far east of the state which was cut off for 24 hours the flooding risk has eased but it'll still take time for the water to recede.
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00:00 After days of relentless rain, this is Mallacoota Wharf, submerged in floodwaters.
00:08 The nearby caravan park was also inundated and the only road into and out of town was
00:14 blocked by a landslip.
00:15 "I've never seen so much water in our water system in the 14 years I've lived here."
00:21 The road has since reopened, but several Gippsland towns remain on flood alert.
00:27 Gippsland campers staying near the raging Abon River have been told to move to higher
00:31 ground, while warnings are still in place for the Thompson River, including Hayfield.
00:36 "We can't get to school today or pretty much this week because of the water on the
00:41 roads and our school bus hasn't been able to come get us."
00:44 Nearby in Tanamba, some houses were left isolated as makeshift levees tried to stem the tide.
00:51 "We've got multiple road closures across the region, we continue to see water impacting
00:57 a lot of infrastructure and sort of closing local businesses and that type of thing.
01:02 We probably won't appreciate the full extent of the damage until the floodwaters start
01:06 to recede."
01:07 "Yeah, I've been here eight years and I haven't seen anything like this before."
01:10 There are mixed reactions to the rising rivers here in Gippsland.
01:13 While some people have had to sandbag their houses, others are simply just enjoying the
01:18 day off and spirits remain high.
01:21 "It is beautiful, very good for the farmers and I've got a dam that needs filling up,
01:25 which is filling up nicely, so it's really good."
01:28 This pub in Newry has even seen a bump in business.
01:31 "Everyone's washed out, celebrating the rain."
01:34 "We're no strangers to adversity out here in East Gippsland and times like this really
01:38 do see our community band together to support each other, so I think it's fair to say
01:44 we're a fairly resilient mob."
01:46 Conditions are expected to ease over the weekend.
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