SA Police Commissioner Grant Stevens said this morning that a swift water recovery team was called in to rescue three occupants from a car which became stranded on a flooded road.

“They lost control of the vehicle and were safely recovered, we are still investigating why a vehicle found itself on a flooded road area,” he said.

“The people were on their roof so there would have been a fair bit of water inside the car.”

At Mannum, residents adjacent to the riverfront Mary Ann Reserve evacuated overnight when concerns about a stormwater pipe near an emergency levee prompted emergency service workers to doorknock at about 2am.

“Yesterday afternoon we had some stormwater infrastructure fail in the Mary Ann Reserve in Mannum and this resulted in a significant amount of river water making itself into the rowing shed bubbling up through the concrete slab,” State Emergency Service chief executive Chris Beattie said.

“We had up to 60 crew across the CFS, SES, local council and SA Water officer working on this over the night and at 2am made the decision to issue an evacuation warning.”

Twelve homes were doorknocked as water rose inside the levee. Residents at two properties chose to stay but one decided to leave this morning.

Beattie said water was cut off to the homes as well as the nearby Mannum Foodland and community club after a pump was affected, SA Water is working to fix the issue.

A commercial diver was also working on fixing the pipework so water could be pumped back into the river.

An emergency levee construction at Mary Ann Reserve in Mannum. Photo: Tony Lewis/InDaily

Beattie also issued a warning for those along the river to be continually aware of hazards in the water, saying another group of people checking property in Blanchetown were rescued earlier this week.

“We had a near miss in Blanchetown when a vessel got into trouble when it was trapped under vegetation and sank – we rescued the individuals,” he said.

Houseboat owners were also warned to monitor moored vessels, after experts monitoring water levels said they expected a rapid fall in river flows as the peak continued downstream.

“Houseboat operators and people hiring or driving houseboats once reinstated will need to be aware of rapid drop offs so they don’t end up stranded on a sandbar,” Beattie said.

Roads continue to be inundated by flood waters, but Premier Peter Malinauskas said flows had now officially peaked in Renmark and the high levels are now making their way downstream.

Over the coming week, the peak is expected to pass through Loxton and then downstream to Morgan. It’s expected to reach Swan Reach and Mannum between 2-13 January and Murray Bridge between 3-14 January.

Malinauskas said a working group was being set up at the State Emergency Centre to set a timeline and criteria for removing emergency restrictions banning boating, fishing and other water activities on the river.

The Premier met with Riverland mayors in Renmark yesterday to discuss the flood waters as well as planning for the cleanup and fixing damaged infrastructure as levels fell.

Surveying River Murray flooding in Renmark. From left: Renmark Mayor Peter Hunter, Premier Peter Malinauskas, Berri Barmera Mayor Ella Winnall, Loxton Waikerie Mayor Trevor Norton. Photo: Belinda Willis

Malinauskas said there would be a concerted effort to ensure rebuilding would keep the possibility of future flooding in mind, flagging that Bookpurnong Road connecting Berri and Loxton – now flooded and closed to traffic – would be carefully assessed.

“This is a critically important road for the Riverland more broadly and we are looking at building it back better,” he said.

Work was also well underway to reinforce and build taller a levee at the Berri riverfront.

At least 1100 properties along the river have so far been inundated, with estimates that more than 250 businesses and 4000 hectares of agricultural production will also be impacted.

On Tuesday, the State Government announced $10,000 grants for small businesses, farm enterprises and not-for profit organisations in River Murray communities to help them to continue to trade.