The northern Victorian city of Shepparton has been put on high alert with residents warned floodwaters could reach 12 metres by Saturday night and break the 1974 flood record.
It comes as thousands of Victorians have been told to evacuate while hundreds more have been cut off from their homes and forced to find shelter elsewhere.
Torrential rain has affected metropolitan Melbourne and regional areas as authorities warn sodden catchments will create weeks of flood risk.
Evacuation orders are in place for low-lying parts of Benalla on the Broken River gateway, Murchison along the Goulburn River southwest of Shepparton, Maribyrnong in Melbourne and the town of Charlton at the foothills of the Great Dividing Range.
The Victorian town of Seymour was underwater on Friday with Shepparton set to be hit with major floods on Saturday (pictured)
A man and woman in their 60s had to be winched onto a police helicopter after their truck became stuck in floodwater in Maude, west of Melbourne, on Friday (pictured)
A watch and act order has been put in place for the north of Shepparton on Friday night with flooding expected to impact properties in some areas by 11am.
Up to 4,000 properties could be affected in the regional city and the surrounding Goulburn Valley areas.
The Avoca River at Charlton is forecast to peak on Saturday afternoon, with the SES expecting flooding to be similar to 2010, when 40 properties were affected.
The flooding there could last for up to five days, authorities warn, and could result in 70 per cent of the town going underwater.
Flood levels in nearby Seymour on Friday peaked above the record levels recorded in 1974.
Seymour was mostly underwater on Friday with the peak breaking the 1974 flood record (pictured)
Floodwaters inundate the suburb of Maribyrnong after the Maribyrnong River burst its banks following two days of heavy rain
About 70 residents were told to leave Maribyrnong in Melbourne, where a fresh evacuation order was issued on Friday afternoon after flooding.
An emergency alert for residents of Rochester along the Campaspe River to evacuate immediately is in place, with about 1,000 properties expected to be inundated or isolated.
Flood alerts and evacuations are in place across the state (pictured)
Many in Rochester sandbagged their properties and left town but some stayed to protect their businesses, motel owner Meagan Keating said on Friday afternoon.
‘The anxiety is high … (because) as quick as the water is moving, it is a slow process, watching it come,’ she said.
Premier Daniel Andrews on Friday confirmed 500 homes have been flooded across Victoria, and another 500 homes are isolated.
‘That number will definitely grow,’ Mr Andrews said.
Mr Andrews visited Shepparton’s incident control centre on Friday.
The Goulburn River has a major flood warning is in place and declared the next few days would be ‘challenging’ for the town.
Authorities expect the city of 80,000 to experience its worst flood in decades after the river peaks on Tuesday.
‘There’s a big volume of water coming the way of Shepparton, Murchison and Mooroopna,’ Mr Andrews said.
‘I thought it was important to be here today and just to look people in the eye and ask them, “have you got everything you need?” – and the good news is the answer is yes.
‘But if that changes, we’re here for the people of Shepparton and indeed the Goulburn Valley, and I’m pretty sure we’ll be back because these next two, three, four days are going to be a very, very challenging time.’
Premier Dan Andrews said on Friday Shepparton will have a ‘challenging’ few days ahead (pictured)
Rescuer workers use an inflatable dinghy to rescue people from floodwaters in Maribyrnong
Men help carry a woman who was walking with a cane through floodwaters after hundreds of homes had to be evacuated in Maribyrnong
The SES fielded nearly 3600 calls for help in the 48 hours to 6pm Friday and rescued more than 230 people across the state in two days.
One person was reported missing in central Victoria on Friday, but police later announced a man was rescued after he ignored a roadblock and drove into floodwaters at Newbridge.
His vehicle was washed downstream and he managed to climb on to a tree branch, police said.
Dozens of horses had to be rescued from floodwaters at Mangalore on Friday (pictured)
Officers rescued another woman in her 70s trapped in floodwaters near Newstead along the Loddon River, and a man in a woman in a truck who became stranded trying to cross the Moorabool River at Maude.
Complacency has been blamed for the number of rescues.
The federal and state governments agreed on Friday to use the $580 million Mickleham quarantine facility as emergency accommodation a week after it was officially closed.
The facility will reopen early next week for 250 people, with crisis accommodation available for six to eight weeks, but the Victorian government said its actual use will depend on demand.
Premier Andrews also announced one-off payments of $560 per adult and $280 per child for people displaced by the floods.
About 1500 applications had been made by Friday afternoon.
Emergency relief centres have been set up near flood-affected areas.
Emergency crews help evacuate people from Maribyrnong
The Werribee River on Friday broke its banks and flooded surrounding areas (pictured)
Opposition Leader Matthew Guy called on the government to declare a state of emergency, and the Victorian Farmers Federation said the state government should work with its federal counterparts and declare a natural disaster in flood-affected areas.
The federal member for Maribyrnong, Bill Shorten, said the situation was heartbreaking in the area he had called home for 30 years.
‘The last big floods were in 1974, so for a lot of people this would be a new and devastating experience,’ Mr Shorten said.
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