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Tens of thousands of Victorian residents remained without power or telecommunications as heavy rainfall and flooding continued to impact large parts of the state.

Communities without phone coverage and unable to call triple-zero included: Trentham, King Lake, Dandenong Ranges, South Gippsland, Gembrook, Pyalong, Don Valley, Healesville, Lancefield and Woori Yallock.

More than 56,000 electricity customers were off supply, according to AusNet.

The health minister, Martin Foley, said on Saturday repair crews were working to repair gas leaks and powerlines from fallen trees in the Dandenong Ranges.

Given that two lives had been lost in flood waters this week, he implored Victorians to make safe decisions.

"Never drive through flooded roads, avoid the Yarra and Dandenong Ranges," he said.

People evacuated from the Traralgon area were given the all clear to return home, as the flood risk began easing in some parts of the Gippsland and Yarra Ranges.

Emergency services were surveying the damage, having predicted flood levels would rise overnight in the Yarra River at Yarra Glen, the Thomson River near Sale and Traralgon Creek near Traralgon.

Anyone living, working or holidaying in the Traralgon Creek area was ordered to evacuate before nightfall on Friday, with major flooding expected.

But after a reprieve from torrential rain overnight, the Bureau of Meteorology revised the flood risk for the area on Saturday morning. Minor flooding was occurring but it was now safe for residents to return.

Some 300 buildings in the area had been impacted by flood water, according to the State Emergency Service, and 14 roads had been closed.

The coalmine fuelling Yallourn power station in Victoria's Latrobe Valley had been evacuated with fears swollen rivers nearby could flood the site.

The federal MP for Gippsland, Darren Chester, said a small part of Traralgon was directly affected by the flood and in most cases residents from that area had family or friends to stay with.

He said the area had had a difficult time recently with drought, bushfires and now floods.

"We've had the trifecta in the last 18 months," he told the ABC.

Aerial images of a swollen Traralgon Creek showed cars submerged under gushing brown water.

Sale was also being inundated with water, with the Thomson River reaching moderate flood levels at Sale and minor flooding occurring nearby at Wandocka.

River levels were steady, but renewed rises were possible with more rain forecast for the catchment on Saturday.

The South Gippsland Highway was closed between Sale and Langford.

Moderate flooding was also occurring along the Latrobe River at Thoms Bridge and was possible in Rosedale on Sunday.

Further west, residents along the Yarra River from Millgrove to Coldstream were advised to evacuate if it became necessary.

The Yarra River at Yarra Glen peaked overnight at moderate flood levels but the river was still rising between Warrandyte and Alphington.

On Friday, a young woman was found in a vehicle in flood waters at Glenfyne, 200km south-west of Melbourne, and a man's body was found in his submerged car at the Gippsland town of Woodside on Thursday.

SES Victoria had more than 8,000 requests for help, with more than half related to fallen trees.

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Major flooding in Victoria leaves tens of thousands without power or telecommunications

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Tens of thousands of Victorian residents remained without power or telecommunications as heavy rainfall and flooding continued to impact large parts of the state. Communities without phone coverage and unable to call triple-zero included: Trentham, King Lake, Dandenong Ranges, South Gippsland, Gembrook, Pyalong, Don Valley, Healesville, Lancefield and Woori Yallock.

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The Australian Flood Risk Information Portal (the portal) enables flood information, currently held by different sources, to be accessible from a single online location. The portal includes a database of flood study information and metadata ( the Australian Flood Studies Database). The portal provides access to authoritative flood maps and flood studies, as well as information about surface water observations derived from the analysis of satellite imagery.

The portal incorporates tools that enable users to search, display and retrieve information. The data management tools and standards that have been developed for the portal will enable data custodians to standardise their data and upload it to the portal, or to make compliant data accessible via web services.

The information in the portal has been provided by local, state and territories governments. Contributing more flood studies will significantly enhance its value. It will improve our understanding of flood behaviour on a regional scale, which is essential because floods do not respect jurisdictional boundaries.

The Australian Flood Risk Information Portal (the portal) hosts data and tools that allow public discovery, visualisation and retrieval of flood studies, flood maps, satellite derived water observations and other related information from a central location.

The portal is focussed on providing access to flood information from authoritative sources. The main catalogue of information available through the portal is the Australian Flood Studies Database.

Information in the portal can be searched and accessed by all users, but only registered users can add flood studies and associated maps to the database. A registered user would typically have been responsible for the creation or publication of flood hazard information, and might include state authorities, local councils, consultants and authorised data custodians.

Data custodians can share their flood study information with other users either by adding data directly into the portal's data catalogue, the Australian Flood Studies Database, or via web services.

Data Entry Information
Information on entering data into the portal, including how to login or register to use the Data Entry Application.

Describes the overarching approach taken in developing the portal, as well as the agreed principles and benefits supporting the portal.

Frequently Asked Questions

Why was the portal developed?

Following the devastating floods across Eastern Australia in 2011, the Australian Government initiated the Natural Disaster Insurance Review. This review highlighted the lack of consistency across the country in the way flood risk information was collected and made available to users. The review also recognised the need for consumers to be aware of the natural disaster risks they may face, as well as the benefits of making flood risk information more readily accessible.

In response to these findings, the Government established the National Flood Risk Information Project (NFRIP) with the aim of improving the quality, availability and accessibility of flood information across Australia and, in doing so, raise community awareness of flood risks. This four year project commenced on 1 July 2012 and delivered three products; the portal, Water Observations from Space and the Australian Rainfall and Runoff Guidelines. NFRIP supports the objectives of the National Strategy for Disaster Resilience (NSDR) adopted by Council of Australian Governments (COAG) in 2011; specifically, that Governments have effective arrangements in place to inform people about hazard and risk.

Who uses the portal?

The portal is used by engineers, insurers and planners to find out what flood mapping information exists, and where, so they can better understand risks. Researchers and consultants can learn what work has already occurred in their area of interest and identify what data may be available for use in future studies. Organisations can refine the scope of planned flood studies by understanding and applying lessons learnt from work undertaken in other regions. Others in the community can also use it to find out what flood information exists for the area that they live in.

What is a flood study?

A flood study is the scientific investigation of flooding in a particular area, usually the catchment of a river system. It may involve hydrologic and hydraulic investigations and a statistical analysis of the frequency with which floods have occurred. The purpose of a flood study is to predict the depth of water and the extent to which it will inundate the landscape in a modelled flood event.

What is a flood map?

A flood map is the result of hydrologic and hydraulic analysis by scientific subject matter experts, that takes into account many factors when developing models for various scenarios. Such factors might include: terrain, water catchments, flood marks and information from historical floods. A map can represent the extent of a flood, the probability of that event occurring and sometimes the depth of inundation in the modelled area.

Where are flood maps available?

Flood maps can be found by searching the Australian Flood Risk Information Portal (AFRIP). While some flood studies don't include separate mapping data, maps relevant to the specific study can be found in many of the attached flood study documents.

What is the Australian Flood Studies Database?

The Australian Flood Studies Database (AFSD) is the national data catalogue of flood study information that underpins the portal. The AFSD contains general information for available studies, including the study location, date, commissioning organisation and lead consultant, and metadata on flood studies and information on flood risk. The metadata is created through a purpose-built data entry application, and adheres to the Flood Studies Data Model XML schema which can be used by data custodians to structure and share their flood information with the portal via webservices.

How do I search the portal?

You can search for studies and maps by:

1. selecting an Area on the Map

2. an address search

3. specifying your search parameters.

How do I access the actual report and maps?

Where available, these can be downloaded directly from the Details section in the Australian Flood Risk Information Portal once you have identified a study you are interested in. If the study you're interested in has no downloads, you will need to contact the commissioning organisation identified in the study record to determine if a copy of the report is available.

Has a flood warning alert been issued for my area?

Please check the Bureau of Meteorology - National Warnings Summary for details on flood warnings. The Australian Flood Risk Information Portal does not hold information on flood warnings.

What do I do in the event of a flood?

Contact your local State Emergency Services if you require assistance in the event of a flood. The Australian Flood Risk Information Portal is not a response tool.

Can I use or reproduce the information here?

The portal is maintained by Geoscience Australia. Unless otherwise noted, all information is available for re-use under Creative Commons 4.0 By Attribution (CC-BY) licensing. The ownership of each flood study remains with the commissioning organisation and/or author as indicated in the record on each study. Users of the database should refer to each specific flood study report to determine any constraints in its usage.

What if the database doesn't do what I need it to do?

Your feedback is input to the continued development of the database and the portal. Please share your feedback via the portal's feedback button.

What if information in the portal is incorrect?

Some of the flood studies contained in the database may be incomplete or may have been superseded by new material. Issues with the accuracy of the study itself should be referred to the commissioning organisation, typically a local council or state government agency. However, where incorrect information is displayed in the portal about a flood study, please share your feedback via the portal's feedback button.

Can I add a flood study or flood maps to the portal?

Registered data custodians can add flood studies and maps to the portal. Please notify Geoscience Australia via the portal's feedback button of any other published flood studies that aren't currently included in the database, but may be suitable for release through the portal.

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The Australian Flood Risk Information Portal (the portal) enables flood information, currently held by different sources, to be accessible from a single online location. The portal includes a database of flood study information and metadata ( the Australian Flood Studies Database).

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Entire suburbs have been submerged in brown water as New South Wales ' flooding crisis deepens.

The rain did not subside overnight, with as much as 300 millimetres expected to fall in some regions in the coming days.

Sydney's west will be battered on Tuesday as already swelling rivers continue to receive a deluge of water.

More rain and a high tide are expected to send the Hawkesbury River at Windsor to its highest point of 13m this week around 9am.

Homes in the area on Monday morning were overwhelmed with water when the river breached the "major flood level" of 12.2 metres.

Premier Gladys Berejiklian acknowledged citizens were at "breaking point" as rain continued to bucket down across the state.

"When you have been through three or four incidents that are life-changing on top of each other, it can make you feel like you are at breaking point," she said.

"Please know that we are thinking of you and getting support as much as we can."

She said the current forecast showed heavy rain for the coming days until it begins to subside on Thursday.

From there, a lengthy cleanup and recovery mission begins.

"Unfortunately, we are not through the worst of it potentially," she said.

"That is why we need to brace ourselves for what will be a very difficult week and then very difficult weeks and months of recovery."

Around 18,230 people have been evacuated from their homes so far.

In the past 24 hours, nearly 1,400 people called the State Emergency Services for help.

The focus area is widespread as warnings are scattered across the entire state.

The Illawarra Region is expected to be drenched on Tuesday and Wednesday, with the Bureau of Meteorology forecasting between 100 and 300mm of rain.

Nearly 200 schools will be closed on Tuesday.

Full list of NSW school closures today

The NSW Department of Education on Tuesday announced that 262 schools, including 194 public schools and 68 non-government schools, have been closed due to the weather event.
Public schools
The following public schools are currently non-operational due to localised flooding:
Independent schools
The following independent schools are currently non-operational due to localised flooding:

Arndell Anglican College

Aspect - Coffs Harbour Campus

Clarence Valley Anglican School

Heritage Christian School

Kempsey Adventist School

Rainbow Ridge School for Steiner Education

St Mary Star of the Sea

St Philip's Christian College Gosford

Taree Christian College

The Nature School

Catholic schools
The following Catholic schools are currently non-operational due to localised flooding:

Parents and carers are reminded to monitor for local conditions before travelling.

The latest updates from the NSW Department of Education can be found here.

Disaster relief payments

Disaster relief payments are also available for residents in 38 council areas deemed natural disaster areas.

That means people living in those areas are eligible for federal emergency funding.

The payments are up to $1000 for adults and $400 for children.

For information on how to apply, click here.
The Greater Sydney council areas eligible for disaster relief payments are: The other NSW council areas eligible for disaster relief payments are:

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Entire suburbs under water, schools closed as flood emergency reaches new crisis point

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Entire suburbs have been submerged in brown water as New South Wales ' flooding crisis deepens. The rain did not subside overnight, with as much as 300 millimetres expected to fall in some regions in the coming days. Sydney's west will be battered on Tuesday as already swelling rivers continue to receive a deluge of water.

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Instructions & country cards for the game 

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Instructions & country cards for the game 

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Where does stormwater go? - Ocean Protect

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Did you know the biggest source of ocean pollution is contaminated stormwater? Over 500,000 litres of rainwater falls on an average suburban block each year. That's more than 2,500 full bathtubs. During a big summer storm, about 90 bathtubs of water fall in less than 30 minutes.

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Water quality of natural water sources, such as beaches and rivers, can vary greatly. Keeping a lookout for poor water quality (such as water that is discoloured, murky or smells unpleasant) will help you decide when it is safe to enter the water. By paying attention to a few noticeable signs, you can keep yourself safe.

People with weaker immune systems (including children and the elderly) face a greater risk of developing swimming-related illnesses, and should take particular care.
When at the beach, use nearby toilet facilities and take children on regular toilet breaks. Stay out of the water if you have diarrhoea or are vomiting. If you have an open wound or infection, avoid swimming.

Warm, slow moving or stagnant water should be avoided. Do not swim if you see sick or dead marine life in or near the water. Dispose of all waste hygienically if you are boating.

If you are uncertain and notice any signs of poor water quality, do not swim.

Microbiological pollution

Microbiological pollution is made up of harmful microorganisms called pathogens, such as bacteria and viruses. These microorganisms contaminate water and sand, and reach the water via:

stormwater runoff

boating pollutants

sewage (including malfunctioning septic tanks, spills and animal droppings).

If you swim in or swallow polluted water you may become ill, most commonly with . Gastro is a short-term illness. Symptoms include:

eye, ear, skin and upper respiratory infection

vomiting

diarrhoea

stomach pain

nausea

headache

fever.

Stormwater

Stormwater runoff is rain that does not soak into the ground, but runs across the surface into the manmade drainage system. From there it flows untreated into natural water sources, including bays, rivers and lakes. Stormwater runoff can carry pollutants such as:

litter - cigarette butts, cans, food wrappers, plastic bags and other rubbish

natural pollutants - leaves, sticks and animal waste

chemical pollutants - fertilisers, detergents, fuel and oil.

To be safe, pay attention to advisory signage about rain impacts, and avoid swimming near stormwater drains.

Sewage spills

The Melbourne sewerage system is designed for flows of up to 25 mm per hour. Any more than that is considered an extreme storm event. When handling this kind of overflow, sewage may be discharged at designated overflow points. These overflow points are located at less sensitive spots in the sewerage system.

To be safe, avoid swimming anywhere with a storm water drain. If water is actively flowing from a nearby drain, find somewhere else to swim.

Water quality monitoring

The monitors 16 fixed sites across Port Phillip Bay, Western Port Bay and the Gippsland Lakes. It looks at water trends over time, measuring changes in nutrient levels, algae composition, oxygen conditions, toxicants and water clarity.

Beach Report

The three types of forecast are:

good - fit for swimming

fair - usually issued after rainfall, may indicate that the beach is near a stormwater outlet

poor - avoid all contact with the water.

Other alerts may be issued all year round. These alerts may include:

pollution incidents

fish deaths

algal blooms (blue-green algae).

Where to get help

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Water quality of natural water sources, such as beaches and rivers, can vary greatly. Keeping a lookout for poor water quality (such as water that is discoloured, murky or smells unpleasant) will help you decide when it is safe to enter the water. By paying attention to a few noticeable signs, you can keep yourself safe.

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Order the steps of the water cycle

Flow chart

Reflections questions

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The vast majority of Earth's water is saltwater found in oceans. Only a tiny fraction is readily accessible freshwater, which is what humans need.

Water found at the Earth's surface can cycle rapidly, but much of Earth's water lies in ice, oceans, and underground reservoirs; this water cycles slowly.

The water cycle is complex and involves state changes in water as well as the physical movement of water through and between ecosystems.

Groundwater is found underground between soil particles and in cracks of rocks. Aquifers are groundwater reservoirs often tapped by wells.

Water: Why does it matter?

Water is pretty darn important for living things. Your body is more than one-half water, and if we were to take a look at your cells, we'd find they were over 70% water! So, you-like most land animals-need a reliable supply of fresh water to survive.

Of the water on Earth, 97.5% is salt water. Of the remaining water, over 99% is in the form of underground water or ice. All told, less than 1% of fresh water is found in lakes, rivers, and other available surface forms.

Many living things depend on this small supply of surface fresh water, and lack of water can have serious effects on ecosystems. Humans, of course, have come up with some technologies to increase water availability. These include digging wells to get at groundwater, collecting rainwater, and using desalination-salt removal-to get fresh water from the ocean. Still, clean, safe drinking water is not always available in many parts of the world today.

Most of the water on Earth does not cycle-move from one place to another-very rapidly. We can see this in the figure below, which shows the average time that an individual water molecule spends in each of Earth's major water reservoirs, a measurement called residence time. Water in oceans, underground, and in the form of ice tends to cycle very slowly. Only surface water cycles rapidly.

The water cycle

The water cycle, or hydrologic cycle, is driven by the Sun's energy. The sun warms the ocean surface and other surface water, causing liquid water to evaporate and ice to sublime-turn directly from a solid to a gas. These sun-driven processes move water into the atmosphere in the form of water vapor.

Over time, water vapor in the atmosphere condenses into clouds and eventually falls as precipitation, rain or snow. When precipitation reaches Earth's surface, it has a few options: it may evaporate again, flow over the surface, infiltrate into the soil, or percolate -sink down-into the ground.

In land-based, or terrestrial, ecosystems in their natural state, rain usually hits the leaves and other surfaces of plants before it reaches the soil. Some water evaporates quickly from the surfaces of the plants. The water that's left reaches the soil and, in most cases, will begin to move down into it.

In general, water moves along the surface as runoff only when the soil is saturated with water, when rain is falling very hard, or when the surface can't absorb much water. A non-absorbent surface could be rock in a natural ecosystem or asphalt or cement in an urban or suburban ecosystem.

Water in the upper levels of the soil can be taken up by plant roots. Plants use some of the water for their own metabolism, and water that's in plant tissues can find its way into animals' bodies when the plants get eaten. However, most of the water that enters a plant's body will be lost back to the atmosphere in a process called transpiration. In transpiration, water enters through the roots, travels upwards through vascular tubes made out of dead cells, and evaporates through pores called stomata found in the leaves.

If water is not taken up by plant roots, it may percolate down into the subsoil and bedrock, forming groundwater. Groundwater is water found in the pores between particles in sand and gravel or in the cracks in rocks, and it's an important reservoir of freshwater. Shallow groundwater flows slowly through pores and fissures and may eventually find its way to a stream or lake, where it can become part of the surface water again.

Some groundwater lies deep in the bedrock and can stay there for millennia. Groundwater reservoirs, or aquifers, are usually the source of drinking or irrigation water drawn up through wells. Today, many aquifers are being used up faster than they're renewed by water that moves down from above.

The water cycle drives other cycles.

The water cycle is important in itself, and patterns of water cycling and rainfall have major effects on Earth's ecosystems. However, rainfall and surface runoff also play important roles in the cycling of various elements. These include carbon, nitrogen, phosphorus, and sulfur. In particular, surface runoff helps move elements from terrestrial, land-based, to aquatic ecosystems.

We'll take a closer look at how this works in the following articles, where we'll examine different elements' biogeochemical cycles.

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The water cycle (article) | Ecology | Khan Academy

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Learn for free about math, art, computer programming, economics, physics, chemistry, biology, medicine, finance, history, and more. Khan Academy is a nonprofit with the mission of providing a free, world-class education for anyone, anywhere.

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The Water Cycle and Water Pollution (video)

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The Water Cycle and Water Pollution (video)

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The Water Cycle and Water Pollution | Essentials of Environmental Science

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1) Students engage in self reflection about the questions
2) Whole class discussion and building understanding

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Survey (ask students what they would be comfortable using recycled water for:

Gardening

Swimming

Cleaning

Drinking

Reflection question:

Why there is an increasing need/demand for recycled water and the man-made processes involved?

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When was Australia's last drought?

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Lessons from the drought | City of Melbourne

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In pairs or small groups, work through the questions below. You can present the information as a poster, report or powerpoint.

1. What is drought?

2. What different types of drought are there?

3. What are the impacts of drought? Identify at least two each for short term, long term, local, national.

4. How does drought link to water scarcity?

5. How can water scarcity be managed in Australia?

6. Choose one way to reduce water usage. How can we do this?

7. Investigate water scarcity in another country. Compare it to how it is managed in Australia.

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In your groups, using your allocated scenario, come up with eco-friendly solutions and a justification for why it is a good solution.

Example scenario

Your brother takes extremely long showers. What can you say to convince him to shorten them?

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Teacher's Guide

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Powerpoint: Renewable & Non-Renewable Resources

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Powerpoint: Renewable & Non-Renewable Resources

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1. Pin your photo of a waterway on the map (approximate location is fine)

2. Write one sentence about what a waterway is

3. Write one sentence about what you notice on the map

1 MINUTE MAD DASH
Using the letters below, write as many words as you can.

MECAHCNTT

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Find local businesses, view maps and get driving directions in Google Maps.

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1. What counts as a waterway?

2. What do you know about the Murray River?

3. Type "Murray River" into Google. What do you notice?

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Feel free to use the guiding questions to help you take notes.

Guiding Questions:

Who is Goodoo?

How was the Murray River created?

Why is it important to hear this story?

What differences did you notice between this video and the google search?

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How the Great Fish Goodoo Created the Murray River - Mr Francis Firebrace

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In groups of five, research your allocated Dreamtime water story. You will be presenting before the end of the lesson.

You can use this site as a starting point:
https://nuwarra.weebly.com/dreamtime-water-stories.html

Your poster/report/powerpoint should include:

A summary of the story

How the story connects to water

What you learned from the story

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Teacher Guide to Coburg Lake Park & Merri Creek Excursion

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Students' observation & data collection booklet

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Students' observation & data collection booklet

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Observation & data booklet for Coburg Lake Park

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Answers these questions in your exercise book.

What are the main uses of water in Victoria?

Who decides how the water is used?

What do water restrictions involve?

What would happen if an industry upstream was to accidentally pollute the river, what would the possible impacts be?

What might happen if there was not enough water for recreational purposes (such as watering football grounds)?

Identify two key facts you learnt from today’s activity.

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Drought:
http://www.bom.gov.au/climate/drought/knowledge-centre/

https://www.nrdc.org/stories/drought-everything-you-need-know

https://www.abc.net.au/news/2014-02-26/100-years-of-drought/5282030?nw=0

Water Scarcity:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=otrpxtAmDAk

https://howmuch.water.vic.gov.au/#section1_2

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Drought service from the Australian Bureau of Meteorology

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How is water used as a renewable source?

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How is water used as a renewable source?

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1. What is hydropower?

2. What do renewable water sources look like around the world?

3. Why should we create more renewable energy resources?

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1. What is a catchment?

2. Why is Murray Darling Basin important?

3. Is there only one type of catchment?

4. Why are catchments important?

5. What are some examples of urban and natural catchments?