Kerang’s caravan park stretches beyond the flood levee that was strengthened after the devastating 2011 floods to better protect the northern Victorian town.
On the “protected side”, about 23 of the caravan park’s residents expect they will be shielded from the deluge as the town prepares to be cut off for up to a fortnight due to flood waters expected to peak on Wednesday or Thursday.
“The cabin site has turned into a nice little lake at the moment, but it is what it is,” says Amanda Cove, who co-owns the site with her husband.
“Some residents are really anxious as it’s their first time going through a flood but thankfully we’ve had some veterans from the 2011 floods that are leading us in the right direction and telling us how things will go.”
In Echuca, about an hour’s drive south-east of Kerang, residents have raced to build a levee to protect the town as an evacuation order was issued early Tuesday morning. But in Kerang, residents stockpiled groceries and dried goods – stripping supermarket shelves bare – in anticipation of being cut off from the rest of Victoria.
Cove and her husband have stocked up on nonperishable items for about a week and are briefing residents about plans if the caravan park’s power station is affected by the deluge.
“We’ve also told all residents we have plenty of space in our cars if there is an evacuation order, and we’re leaving no man behind,” she says.
The Bureau of Meteorology predicts the Loddon River could peak overnight on Wednesday through to Thursday, reaching similar levels in the 2011 floods.
The infrastructure built after the 2011 floods is expected to keep the main township within the levee dry. But residents with medical issues have been urged to leave town.
At a farm about 25km outside Kerang, Tania Sutherland and her husband have moved their 2,000 sheep and 150 cows to paddocks they hope will be spared the worst of the flooding.
The couple, who lived in Kerang during the 2011 floods, are shocked they are in flood preparation mode again.
“They told us it was a one-in-100-year flood and now 11 years later we’re here preparing for it again … It’s just the unknown,” Sutherland says.
Since 2011, Sutherland and her husband have had a flood bank installed around their property.
“We’re just hoping that the levels are right and it will be fine. We had it made about 30cm higher than the 2011 floods [levels],” she says.
“But now we are locked in. Once the water gets a few centimetres higher we won’t be able to get out on our roads. We’ll just be here.”
For those within the township, it’s also a matter of waiting out the isolation period.
Mother-of-two Amanda Day, the owner of the Little Blue Book Shop, is planning to keep her store open during normal trading hours.
“I have confidence that the levee will hold and we’ll stay dry, but my concern is for people outside the levee,” Day says.
At home, Day will focus on homeschooling her two children.
“We’ve got lots of reading material as I own the bookshop and we’ve started a Monopoly game last night that should keep us going.”
While the family has stocked the house with groceries, Day is confident the community will support each other.
“There’s a lot of people staying in town so if one person runs out of toilet paper, other people will share theirs.”
Belinda Batchelor was at a local depot site on Tuesday afternoon where locals were making sandbags in preparation for flood waters.
“Everyone is just prioritising the most important things, which is everyone outside the levee and securing the levee wall,” she says.
“The community has really come together. Anyone who can lift a sandbag is here and anyone who can’t is making scones and slices.
“It’s really just a waiting game.”
