A river has broken its banks and is flooding suburbs on the outskirts of Adelaide while, in flood-hit regional New South Wales, residents have been told to evacuate their homes.

A 49-year-old man has gone missing in the flood-hit Forbes region of NSW, with three helicopters and search crews looking for him.

The man was last seen late on Friday night at Burcher, southwest of Forbes, where his car and boat trailer but no boat, were found.

A submerged boat was spotted from an aerial search of the area on Saturday, with police divers heading to the boat on Sunday to see if it’s owned by the man.

Adelaide’s Gawler river is in flood and residents have been told to put their emergency flood plans into action.

“Water levels are very high in the Gawler river and flooding is occurring,” the State Emergency Service warned on Sunday. “The river has already broken its banks in a number of places and there is a possibility of further breaks or levee failures.”

Suburbs affected include Gawler, Hillier, Gawler River, Angle Vale, Penfield Gardens, Two Wells, Lewiston, Virginia, Port Gawler and Buckland Park.

In parts of flood-hit regional New South Wales families were told to leave their homes or risk being caught in the floodwaters.



The State Emergency Service issued a flood evacuation for Edward Street, in West Wagga Wagga, on Saturday night, warning residents to leave within 12 hours.

“Do not delay your evacuation,” the SES said in its order. “Roads will be congested or closed. You could become trapped and need rescue. Remaining in flooded areas is dangerous and may place your life at risk.”

It followed another evacuation order issued on Saturday morning for residents in parts of Condobolin to leave within 24 hours.

That order applies to properties on Lachlan Valley Way to the east of Condobolin; Officers Parade, north and west of Graf Street; Lachlan Street between William Street and Denison Street; the southern side of Bathurst Street between Denison Street and Gordon Street; Lachlan Valley Way and Kiacatoo Road to the west of Condobolin; and Molong Street between Mooney Street and Goobang Bridge.

Residents elsewhere in Wagga Wagga and Condobolin have been warned to prepare to leave their homes if instructed.

Both sets of orders instructed residents to leave by Sunday morning and to take enough spare clothing, medicines and personal hygiene supplies to last for a week.

The Bureau of Meteorology is expecting the Lachlan River at Condobolin to peak near 7.2m on Wednesday.

The flooding disaster that has been unfolding across the state’s central west since the end of August is estimated to have caused tens of millions of dollars worth of damage and wiped out unknown hectares of crops.



Areas including Mount Lofty Ranges and mid north of South Australia, already affected by last week’s cyclonic storm that led to the entire state losing electricity, need to prepare for another soaking.

More rain is forecast for South Australia coming in on Sunday afternoon, with yet more set to fall on Monday and Tuesday.

Possible thunderstorms are forecast for western and southern coasts, Pastoral, Flinders, Riverland, Murraylands and Upper South East districts.

The ABC was reporting residents in Virginia, Lewiston and Port Wakefield had a brief reprieve from the rain overnight but they had been warned further flooding was possible later on Sunday afternoon.

The State Emergency Service issued an emergency warning to Virginia residents at 6.30pm on Saturday, telling them to enact their flood plans. A flood levee protecting the small town failed earlier on Saturday when the Gawler river broke its banks.

The Wakefield river 70km further north also broke its banks on Saturday morning, the breach coming at Balaclava Road and threatening the town of Port Wakefield.

It comes after days of widespread flooding and wild weather that saw the entire state lose electricity.

“As more rain is expected in the coming days, people are advised to leave sandbags in place,” an SES spokeswoman said.

Strong winds up to 100km/h are lashing Victoria, with passengers heading to Melbourne airport told to watch for delays.

A Jetstar flight was moved to another gate to help passengers avoid the full force of the wind on Sunday, an airport spokesman said, but all runways were open.

The SES has received around 88 calls for assistance on Sunday, and have urged drivers to drive to conditions as numerous trees have fallen.

