Evacuations in Tassie after dams burst

Some of Tasmania's heaviest-ever rain has forced the evacuation of residents across
the state, with rivers and dams bursting their banks.
The state has been lashed with the same storm front that has hit most of the east
coast of Australia, with parts of the state receiving record-breaking daily rainfall
totals.
SES spokeswoman Sharon Sherman said residents were evacuated in the towns of
Wynyard, Railton and Chudleigh in the state's northwest, where several homes were
inundated.
The power was turned off at Chudleigh to reduce the electrical hazard.
The banks of Blackwood Creek burst, which isolated parts of Bracknell, south of
Launceston.
A dam breached at Castra, near Devonport, forcing the evacuation of a number of
low-lying homes nearby, Ms Sherman said.
Elsewhere, a tourist was stranded when a bridge was washed out at Meander Falls,
near Deloraine, Forestry Tasmania (FT) said.
FT spokesman Bob Hamilton said the man had sufficient food and supplies and was
"happy to wait a few days while FT works to find a way out".
Meanwhile, a nursing home in Penguin was evacuated, but police said it was a
"precautionary measure".
Conditions improved on the east coast on Friday, after floodwaters that cut off the
tourist town of St Helens on Thursday subsided.
Tasmanian Premier David Bartlett, who will tour flood-affected regions on Saturday,
said the Queensland floods put the situation in Tasmania into perspective.
"While I know it is having a big impact on families, businesses and communities, it
is nowhere near the scale and the scope of the Queensland tragedy," he told
reporters in Hobart.
"Having said that, we are dealing with some serious flooding."
Mr Bartlett said the total damage bill would not be known until the waters receded,
but said the floods had taken their toll on roads, rather than houses.
"It's highly likely that out of the recent couple of days' incidents in Tasmania,
it'll be infrastructure such as roads, stormwater drains and other facilities that
will need repair," he said.
"But I don't have an accurate picture of that yet."
Insurance company RACT said it had received more than 100 calls from customers,
mainly on the east coast.
"Particularly the towns of St Helens, Scamander and Binalong Bay would seem to be
the hardest hit areas," RACT CEO Trent Sayers said.