The State Emergency Service and council representatives will hold a community meeting from 6-7pm tonight (Thursday) at the Milang Regatta Club, after warning Lower Lakes residents – particularly those living in low-lying shacks in Milang – about the threat from high flows, wind and high tides.

Milang Jetty and Milang Boat Ramp are now closed over safety concerns and filled sandbags are being handed out to the community today at the corner of Woodrow Drive and Paddlesteamer Drive as high water impacts the area.

State Emergency Services chief executive Chris Beattie said locals should prepare for the peak flow as it continues downstream, it has now reached Morgan and is expected at Mannum from January 6-9, Murray Bridge between January 7-10 and the Lower Lakes between January 9-13.

Five barrages around the River Murray Mouth are now open for the first time in decades to release floodwaters surging into the downstream lakes.

Barrages near the mouth of the River Murray at Goolwa, Mundoo, Boundary Creek, Ewe island and Tauwitchere were manually opened by SA Water crews. The barrages were built in the 1940s to regulate water flows from the River Murray and stop salty seawater from flowing upstream into the Lower Lakes.

As floodwater impacts farmers in the Murray Bridge region after levee breaches, a new relief centre opened this morning in Murray Bridge, following others in Mannum and Berri.

The new centre is based at the Ramblers Football Club, 1 Ramsay St, Murray Bridge and offers a range of support services from 9am to 5pm every day, including:

• Emergency Personal Hardship Grants
• Private rental assistance and emergency accommodation
• Counselling support services
• Food relief
• Support for primary producers
• Financial counselling
• Legal services
• Community outreach

“This is an ongoing disaster facing communities all along the Murray River and people are not only dealing with the loss and hardship brought on by these flood events but are also starting to think about the cleanup,” Human Services Minister Nat Cook said.

She said the Berri and Mannum emergency relief centres have assisted more than 1600 people in the flood impacted areas.

Of those people, more than 270 have received personal hardship grants while another 60 people have received accommodation grants and 30 have received private rental assistance.

The Emergency Relief Centres are part of the government’s $51.6 million initial financial assistance package for River Murray communities, households and businesses impacted by large-scale flooding.

The package includes one-off Emergency Personal Hardship Grants, emergency accommodation assistance, business grants and tourism industry support.

Daily water level tables taken from five locations around the Lower Lakes, rather than only the current one at Lake Alexandrina, also will now be provided by the Environment and Water Department.

SA Health has confirmed it is still safe to swim in murky water at beaches near the Murray Mouth at Goolwa, reporting there is currently no evidence of increased microbial contamination, including E.coli in floodwaters entering Goolwa and nearby beaches.

However, a 750m exclusion zone to non-powered boats and swimming remains around the mouth with strong flows creating a safety risk.

The table will now include Milang, Clayton Bay, Goolwa, Hindmarsh Island Marina and Meningie to provide more detailed information for the Lower Lakes community.

SA Health continues to warn against swimming and diving at Lake Bonney until further notice due to potentially harmful levels of blue green algae. Boating, fishing, canoeing and rowing are still permitted but people are advised to take extra care not to ingest the water.