Residents in Tasmania are getting some respite as weather conditions ease but there are now warnings that could change in the next 48 hours.
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00:00Yeah, here in New Norfolk, the flood levels have eased.
00:05Here in the lower-lying part of town, a lot of the houses around me had water lapping
00:09at their door, but those have come down now from their peak of 2.8 metres.
00:13It has allowed some of the residents here to return to their properties and check to
00:17see what damage is around the area around their properties, but there is still the caravan
00:23park nearby where some people were living that has still got a fair bit of water there
00:28as well.
00:29The golf club behind me has got water against it and sandbags, and the rowing club nearby
00:34is still at its base, got water down.
00:38Further up in the Derwent Valley, where there was an evacuation order, there is still quite
00:44a fair bit of flooding and some residents there have been able to go back to the property
00:51if it is safe to do so with the flood warning downgraded to moderate today.
00:58Despite the easing today, authorities have warned that people aren't out of the woods.
01:02They're warning that another cold front is expected to hit the state in coming days,
01:06delivering more wind and more rain, although much of that rain will be contained to the
01:11west and north-west of the state.
01:14They are still expecting flood waters to remain high for a couple of days, and the SES is
01:19urging people to be cautious whether their properties are affected by the recent floods
01:24or the wind that's been battering the state or any kind of adverse condition.
01:29Here's Mick Lowe from the SES earlier today.
01:32We do ask people and the community to remain cognisant of the river levels.
01:39They will remain elevated, and we continue to ask people to please stay aware of the
01:44conditions and do not drive through flood waters.
01:49Water through homes above the floorboards, or that's not clear.
01:53You mentioned the rowing club and the bowls club.
01:55Has there been any actual damage there with water through the buildings, or have they
02:00been successful at keeping the water out?
02:05An SES worker we spoke to slightly earlier said that the caravan park had quite a bit
02:10of damage from the water that's there, just from a lot of debris that had been dragged
02:15up the river and has now been deposited there.
02:19Properties next to us, they had some of their garages, floods, and quite a bit of their
02:23property was in that.
02:24The gardens had been completely destroyed.
02:27The bowls club, which is here at the moment, all of their greens at the moment are still,
02:32and this is 24 hours after the peak, about two to three inches underwater, and their
02:36club rooms have got water through them, so there is a fair bit to mop up.
02:40And what's the mood there?
02:44The community has really come together in the past few days.
02:47Last night when we were here as the flood waters were rising, there were groups of people
02:51helping residents move out.
02:53There's been property owners who've been offering to take on pets, just whether that's
02:57a small guinea pig or a dog or anything like that, just to make it one less thing for people
03:02to worry about.
03:03As well, a local Indian restaurant in Hobart has driven up to the Derwent Valley and is
03:08offering free food to anyone who's been displaced.
03:11We were there a bit earlier and they told us they had enough butter chicken to feed
03:15two to three hundred people, many of whom were just parked at the football oval just
03:22nearby.
03:23People have been doing what they can to help those in their time of need.