Wagga Wagga Now a Ghost Town Over Flood Disaster
The road to recovery is going to be long and exhausting for North Wagga Wagga as residents are not yet allowed to move back in although they are allowed to visit for clean ups, News.com.au reports.
While floodwaters have receded in Wagga's main centre, its north remains a ghost town after forced evacuations due to devastating floodwaters.
Some 600 people from 200 properties were allowed to visit their homes on Sunday morning for an initial clean-up, but they had to leave by 7pm because the area was not yet safe to stay overnight.
The Wagga residents will be allowed to return to their homes only after crisis management crews are done checking houses one by one for possible gas, water and electricity problems.
SES spokesman Phil Campbell said the residents will not come back all at once to their homes.
"It will be a staged return," he told News.com.au, adding that there were still crucial health and safety issues in Wagga.
Floodwaters in Wagga stream to Darlington Point in the NSW Riverina, which, according to the State Emergency Service, is still rising slowly.
Most of Darlington Point's 1000 residents heeded the evacuation order issued on Saturday and left town.