A woman was killed by floodwater at Latrobe on Tuesday, as emergency crews battled around the clock to save Launceston from inundation.
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Seventy-five-year-old Mary Kathleen Allford was found dead in her Shale Road home on Tuesday morning.
As of Tuesday night, she was the flood’s only fatality, however police hold grave concerns for two missing men – a 63-year-old Scottsdale man and an 81-year-old Ouse man.
In Launceston, floodwater consumed Cataract Gorge and residents have been urged to keep away from the landmark.
The South Esk River peaked overnight, with authorities confirming the waterflow in the North Esk River on Tuesday exceeded that seen during Tasmania’s 1929 floods that killed 22 people.
More than 100 homes have been inundated and more than 100 rescues have been conducted.
State Emergency Service Northern manager Mhairi Revie said waterflow in some catchments was the equivalent of 2800 “small cars” filled with water travelling downstream every second.
Floodgates were installed on the Charles Street Bridge from 7pm on Tuesday night.
About 500 premises across the North were without power on Tuesday evening.
TasNetworks advised that crews hoped to restore power to areas of St Leonards, Launceston, Newstead, Mole Creek, Birralee, Deloraine, Hagley, Quamby Bend, Rosevale, Selbourne, Westbury, Westwood and Whitemore by Tuesday night.
A further 970 customers were without power in Hadspen due to a fallen pole.
Up to 20 customers in Deloraine and Targa were expected to remain without power throughout the night, as well as 200 customers in the North-West and seven in the South.
TasWater advised customers that power outages were impacting the performance of some water and sewerage treatment plants.
The organisation said the severe weather had damaged infrastructure, but that they were working closely with TasNetworks and other agencies to restore services.
A planned public meeting to discuss the City of Launceston’s decision to transfer land to the University of Tasmania was postponed for two weeks due to the ongoing flood emergency.
Telstra has announced an assistance package for residential and small business customers in Latrobe, Forth, South Launceston, St John, Ouse and Woodbury who have lost services due to flooding.
Motorists should not drive through floodwater.
The Tasmanian Emergency Information Service number is 1800 567 567.