A town in Australia uses a Yogi Bear statue to measure flood waters. Here’s the story from the Sydney Morning Herald:

Wangaratta residents have smiles on their faces, after their trusted floodwater measure, Yogi Bear, declared an end to the crisis.

For decades, Yogi, a playground fixture at Apex Park in the centre of town by the banks of the Ovens River, has told residents how bad the floods are.

If water reaches his eyes, it’s considered a moderate flood and anything over that is considered major.

On Sunday Yogi went right under the swirling brown floodwaters and stayed there for three anxious days as residents waited to see whether creeks and rivers would swamp homes around the town.

But as the waters finally subsided on Wednesday morning, Yogi emerged, complete with snorkel and goggles.

“When Wangaratta awoke and saw Yogi surface this morning, he’d emerged with snorkel and goggles,” Wangaratta Chronicle editor Jeff Zeuschner told AAP.

“I don’t know who the prankster is but it’s good fun and hopefully people will get a bit of a chuckle out of it.”

Mr Zeuschner said Yogi’s comic re-emergence would be welcome after some anxious days for people who have been watching the flood levels to see whether they would need to evacuate.

Yogi has long been a trusted measure of the depth of the floods and to see him peek back out from under the waters was a sign the worst was over.

“Certainly there’s a sigh of relief,” Mr Zeuschner said.

And Yogi, who was saved and carefully replaced after a park renovation some years ago to ensure he could continue advising the town on flood matters, has once again played a vital role.

“He’s done the city proud.”