A drone photo taken by Lachlan Byrne of Memorial Park and Memorial Drive.
Memorial Park has finally succumbed to flooding inundation, with water completely covering oval number three and the Deniliquin Netball Association courts by Wednesday.
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It comes just days after Edward River Council installed the flood gates in the levee system on Monday, closing access to Memorial Drive.
The total inundation coincided with a visit to Deniliquin and district by NSW Premier Dominic Perrottet, Deputy Premier Paul Toole and Minister for Emergency Services and Resilience and Minister for Flood Recovery Stephanie Cooke.
Impressive drone photos of Memorial Park taken by Deniliquin’s Lachlan Byrne show the spread of the river across the recreational precinct, with the netball courts only just visible under a layer of water.
Water is also now seeping on to the Deniliquin golf course, but the back six holes are still open for play (more information in today’s PT Sport).
At this stage, Memorial Park’s main oval has no water on it.
A drone photo of the Deniliquin Netball Association courts by Lachlan Byrne.
While the Edward River at Deniliquin has now reached its previously predicted peak of 8.3m, Deniliquin-Conargo SES unit controller Jodie Graham said there may still be a threat of further river rises.
Speaking to the Pastoral Times yesterday, before the afternoon briefing, Ms Graham said more rain is coming.
“The Edward is at 8.3m which was to be the peak, but it does not mean it won’t peak again,” Ms Graham said.
“This could just be the first wave.
“We have another rain system coming through, and of course it all depends what happens in the catchment and the Goulburn and Campaspe.”
NSW Premier Dominic Perrottet and minister for Emergency Services and Resilience and Minister for Flood Recovery Stephanie Cooke meet with emergency service volunteers based at the Deni Ute Muster site.
Ms Graham said as emergency services and volunteers still work around the clock to ensure people are protected and supported, she again urges people to stay out of flood waters.
It comes after photos of flooding shared to social media show people in floodwaters, including areas outside the town flood levee system.
“Do not climb the levee,“ Ms Graham said.
“There is debris in river water and other nasties, and you are putting your own life at risk.
“Mitigation processes (like closing the flood gates) are put in for your safety and wellbeing, which is paramount to our operations.”
A drone image of water on Memorial Park's number three oval and part of the Deniliquin golf course.
The netball courts, Memorial Park’s ovals and the Deniliquin golf course were all inundated in the 2016 floods also, where the peak was a moderate flood level of 8.62m.
There was no lasting structural damage as a result of those floods, with only minor flood recovery works required for them to be suitable for play.
The impact of this flood will not be known until the water receded and the flood gates are reopened, allowing for assessment to take place.
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