Flood waters isolate SA towns

Flooding caused by heavy rain has cut off some towns in northern South Australia as the weekend deluge continues.

Facing its heaviest rainfall in 30 years, up to 200mm is expected to fall in parts of the state by Sunday.

In South Australia’s North East Pastoral area, up to 100mm is forecast, while further south falls of up to 60mm are still expected.

• Check the latest SA weather conditions

• Rainy weekend for Victoria

Some roads and tracks in the northern parts of the state have also been closed because of flooding.

The townships of Marree, William Creek and Oodnadatta are still cut off by the floodwaters and remain isolated until the roads re-open, which could be days away.

Some Outback stations had recorded 120mm of rain by Saturday morning in what some have described as the heaviest rainfall event in 30 years.

The Bureau of Meteorology (BoM) has warned the heavy rain is likely to continue as the low pressure system moves across the state, expected to cross over the coast on Monday.

A severe weather warning for heavy rainfall has now been cancelled for all areas except the North East Pastoral District.

Arkaroola in the northern Flinders Ranges had recorded 92mm of rain in the 24 hours up until 9am on Saturday while Clare in the Mid-North received 42mm.

The drenching comes after a week of firefighters battling an intense bushfire in the Adelaide Hills which destroyed 27 homes.

It is not all bad news though, with pastoralists and cattle farmers rejoicing because it if the first soaking rains some areas have received in four years.

While emergency services were preparing for the worst ahead of a forecast deluge overnight, the State Emergency Service (SES) said it only had 15 calls for help up until 10am on Saturday.

SES acting chief officer Dermot Barry said two Incident Management Teams (IMTs) - one in Port Pirie and the other in Adelaide - would also remain active.

“With the support of our partner agencies such as the Bureau of Meteorology, the Department of Environment, Water and Natural Resources and the two fire agencies, we’ve already done a considerable amount of planning and preparatory work in respect to the severe weather currently impacting the state,” Mr Barry said.

“We want to make sure we can still respond quickly and effectively should we be required to do so in the next few days,” he added.

Swiftwater rescue strike teams are on standby in case anyone is washed away by floodwaters.

A 24-year-old man died yesterday after he was tragically swept away by flood water in Alice Springs while riding a tube down the flooded Todd River.

The SES has warned people in affected areas to stay indoors, away from windows, while conditions are severe and avoid driving through flood water.

In Victoria, the rain is expected to continue falling for much of the weekend with some parts of the state expecting up to 100m.

The regional Victorian city of Bendigo copped a torrential downpour on Friday, flooding shops and damaging buildings.

The rain has eased bushfire conditions. However, there are still some blazes burning in national parks in Victoria's west and east.

Morning news break – January 10