South Australia’s Premier Peter Malinauskas has warned that between Christmas Eve and mid-January, the state’s river towns could face the worst flooding since the record-breaking 1956 floods. Communities are beginning to feel the effects of a rising River Murray as water from the flooded eastern states flows downstream. There are predictions the Riverland town of Renmark will see a peak of floodwaters later this month, but authorities have been surprised by the speed of the rising water. Officials warn that could spell trouble sooner than thought for some of the bigger towns in the region, like Mannum, where locals have spent weeks preparing a levee they’ve dubbed “the great wall”. Malinauskas says “we’ve done all the preparation that we reasonably can, but … there is clearly a degree of anxiety on the ground”.