As the Murrumbidgee River continues to rise, firefighters have joined flood operations by deploying a drone to gauge the rising water levels.
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The local team deployed its remotely-piloted aircraft systems (RPAS) drone at Wagga Beach on Monday to aid the SES, which is the lead agency for flooding.
Wagga Fire and Rescue Inspector Daryl Manson said the ability to deploy drones in this situation will aid the overall flood operation.
"In our role working with [the SES] at the emergency operation centre we'll get some footage with our RPAS which will ground truth if a level gets to 8.5m/8.6m, we can take aerial footage of key areas to know exactly where that water level will be," he said.
"It just gives us the ability to get some situational awareness that you can't do from the ground."
Inspector Mason said the combined efforts all agencies involved in the flood operations amount to "a lot of horsepower", which will stand the city in good stead in the coming days.
"Luckily we haven't had to evacuate North Wagga and it appears that'll be unlikely to happen which is great news," he said.
"But if we do need to ramp these things up it's good to have all those services together and work as one unit."
Wagga Beach was a hive of activity on Monday afternoon, with dozens of locals gathering to check out the flooded carpark and park area which has become fully submerged in less than 24 hours.
Councillor Mick Henderson was one of those checking out the scene and he praised the efforts of the emergency services so far.
"The SES has been fantastic in the way that they've had forward thinking with this one," he said.
The SES has been fantastic in the way that they've had forward thinking with this one.
- Wagga councillor Mick Henderson
However, he now worries about the clean up bill the council faces for the new park once the waters subside.
"Unfortunately, it was only opened two months ago and we're into a clean up bill, it was always predicted that this could happen and unfortunately it's happened in such a short time from the opening," he said.
Wagga local Matthew Hohnberg was surprised by how fast the waters were rising at his feet in the short time he was at the beach.
He said that flooding is all part of living in Wagga.
"It just happens in Wagga, it's just always fascinating to watch it," he said.
"I'm not being blasé, it's just part of the natural cycle."