Rainstorm in Murray Bridge prompts almost 60 calls to State Emergency Service
The city has copped three times its usual March rainfall in just a few hours.
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Emergency services have responded to almost 60 calls from help around Murray Bridge after a heavy rain band passed through on Sunday afternoon.
The rural city copped 58 millimetres of rain between about 3.30 and 7pm, according to the Bureau of Meteorology.
That’s about three times as much as it would usually get during the whole month of March.
Dozens of homes had water come in through doorways, window fixtures and ceilings.
Among the worst off were the residents of a home on the Old Princes Highway on the east side, where a kitchen ceiling collapsed; and properties on Standen Street, Todd Avenue and Monash Terrace which were flooded.
People were seen kayaking on Tapp Terrace, on the west side.
A number of businesses were also affected to some extent, including a printing plant on Rayson Street, a secondhand retailer and a chemist on Adelaide Road, the cinema on First Street and a bookshop on Bridge Street.
Volunteers from the State Emergency Service dashed around the city, delivering sandbags, clearing drains and protecting lives and property, backed up by Country Fire Service and Metropolitan Fire Service personnel, SA Police and Murray Bridge council staff.
At Murray Bridge Showground, they rescued the occupants of a motor home which became surrounded by water.
Water covers Garden Crescent; emergency services help out on Todd Avenue; helpers sweep water out of a business; cars dodge floodwater on Hindmarsh Road; a stormwater basin at Homburg Reserve does its job; and roads are flooded at Sturt Reserve. Photos: Peri Strathearn.
The heaviest rain seemed to be limited to Murray Bridge itself.
Only one Mannum resident called the SES for help, and no calls came from Tailem Bend or elsewhere around the region.
However, the CFS did need to help a driver who rolled their car on Orland Road at Kepa in the thick of the rainstorm.
Members of the Murray Bridge SES brigade had made sandbags available at their station on Thomas Street on Sunday, thanks in part to a donation of two tonnes of sand from nearby business Long's Sand and Metal.
Want to say thanks to the team in orange?
They planned to host an information night for new volunteers this Tuesday.
- Volunteer with the SES: Attend the info night at 6.30pm on Tuesday, March 3 at Murray Bridge SES, 138 Thomas Street.
