Wodonga farmers receives 15 tonnes of sandbags from helicopter as floodwaters inundate property

The 140-acre property, next to the northbound lane of the Hume Freeway on the stock route behind Lincoln Causeway, was a hive of activity as SES crews and other emergency services frantically prepared sandbags at nearby Gateway Lakes to be delivered via helicopter.

After it departed from Wangaratta at around 3pm, the aircraft underwent one test run from Gateway Lakes to the property before it made five separate trips to drop off three-tonne loads, around 500 sandbags, to the backyard of the house between 5pm and 5.30pm.

Tennille Doolan, daughter of the farm's owners Frank Reynolds and Julie Reuss, said the family was grateful for the support from the SES to organise the sandbags at such short notice, given the property could only be accessed by boat.

"It was just amazing," she said.

"We're okay at the moment. It's obviously through all the sheds and the paddocks, but it's not in the house yet.

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"We're very grateful for the SES and the chopper that did an amazing job dropping all the sandbags to us.

"We've rallied the family and friends around us and we've had people come and go throughout the day.

"The next month is probably going to be a bit touch and go, but we'll see what happens with the (Hume) weir and future rainfall."

Ms Doolan said the inundation was on par with floods across the region in 2016.

"The property's been in our family for over 100 years and they normally say there's a one in 20-year flood. We're expecting it to probably rise just due to how full the weir is and Dartmouth Dam," she said.

"Once we do this (sandbagging), there's not too much more we can do. It was just a matter of getting the sandbags and that's obviously been a hard task due to being cut off already.

"We were lucky they were loading at Gateway Lakes, which is a perfect location because it was only four minutes turnaround either side. We obviously can't thank the SES enough and the chopper pilots were great."

Less than five kilometres away at Gateway Village, businesses remain on high alert with a sandbag levee laid down by SES crews being monitored by volunteers and connections to traders in the precinct.

La Maison restaurant owner Wassim Saliba said the water was at a manageable level for now, which had allowed him to welcome diners as normal.

"It's certainly a bit of a replica of the 2016 floods at the moment, but there's too much unknown about how it is going to behave," he said.

"We just need some clarity on where to go from here, but I'd like to think there will be no interruptions to our bookings. If we have to close it means more food and customer losses on top of all the losses we've already had."

Meanwhile, Fire Rescue Victoria crews helped remove a car stuck in floodwaters on the Old Barnawartha Road on Wednesday morning.

Crews arrived at 11am.

"The car was pushed out of the floodwaters with a (Wodonga) council representative assisting at the scene," an FRV spokesperson said.

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