Victoria floods: Shepparton residents put on high alert as thousands evacuated

The central Victorian town of Shepparton has been placed on high alert with residents warning that water could reach 40 feet (40 m) Saturday night, breaking the 1974 flood record.

It comes at a time when thousands of Victorians have been told to evacuate, while hundreds more have been cut off from their homes and forced to seek shelter elsewhere.

Days of torrential rain have hit metropolitan Melbourne and regional areas as authorities warn that soggy watersheds will pose flood risk for weeks.

Evacuation orders have been issued for low-lying areas of Benalla at the Broken River gateway, Murchison along the Goulburn River southwest of Shepparton, Maribyrnong in Melbourne and the town of Charlton at the foot of the Great Dividing Range.

A man and woman in their 60s had to be hoisted onto a police helicopter after their truck got stuck in floodwaters in Maude, west of Melbourne, on Friday (pictured)

A hold order was issued Friday night for northern Shepparton, with flooding expected to affect some areas by 11 a.m.

Up to 4,000 properties could be affected in the regional city and surrounding Goulburn Valley areas.

The Avoca River near Charlton is expected to peak on Saturday afternoon, with the SES expecting flooding to be similar to 2010, when 40 properties were affected.

Floods there could last up to five days, authorities warn, and could cause 70 percent of the city to be submerged.

Flood levels in nearby Seymour peaked above the record level of 1974.

Seymour was largely under water on Friday with the peak breaking the 1974 flood record (pictured)

Floodwater flows past shops in Melbourne’s Maribyrnong suburb after a nearby river overflowed after two days of extreme rainfall in the state of Victoria

The flood threat to Skinners Flat near Wedderburn has been reduced and residents are allowed to return Friday evening.

About 70 residents were told to leave Maribyrnong in Melbourne, where a new evacuation order was issued Friday afternoon following the flooding.

An emergency warning has been issued for Rochester residents along the Campaspe River to evacuate immediately, with about 1,000 homes expected to be flooded or isolated.

Flood warnings and evacuations are in effect across the state, with the central north area expected to be hardest hit over the weekend (pictured)

Many in Rochester threw their belongings into sandbags and left the city, but some stayed to protect their businesses, motel owner Meagan Keating said Friday afternoon.

“The fear is great… (because) as fast as the water moves, it’s a slow process to see it coming,” she said.

Prime Minister Daniel Andrews confirmed on Friday that 500 homes in Victoria have been flooded and another 500 have been insulated.

“That number will certainly grow,” said Mr Andrews.

Andrews visited the Shepparton Incident Control Center on Friday.

The Goulburn River has a major flood warning, declaring that the coming days would be “challenging” for the city.

Authorities expect the city of 80,000 to experience its worst flooding in decades after Tuesday’s river peaks.

“There’s a lot of water coming through Shepparton, Murchison and Mooroopna,” said Mr Andrews.

“I thought it was important to be here today and just look people in the eye and ask, ‘Do you have everything you need?’ – and the good news is that the answer is yes.

“But if that changes, we’ll be here for the people of Shepparton and indeed the Goulburn Valley, and I’m pretty sure we’ll be back because the next two, three, four days will be a very, very challenging time.”

Prime Minister Dan Andrews said on Friday Shepparton has a ‘challenging’ few days ahead (pictured)

Rescuers use an inflatable dinghy to rescue people from flooding in Melbourne suburb Maribyrnong after two days of torrential rain that caused flash flooding

Men help carry a woman who walked through water with a cane after hundreds of homes were evacuated in Melbourne’s Maribyrnong suburb, and hundreds were threatened

The SES answered nearly 3,600 calls for help in the 48 hours to 6:00 p.m. 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 that a man had been rescued after ignoring a roadblock and driving into floodwaters near Newbridge.

His vehicle was washed downstream and he managed to climb onto a tree branch, police said.

Floods engulfed the city of Mangalore and the surrounding region on Friday, where local horse breeder Yulong Stud had to herd horses out of the raging waters.

Dozens of horses had to be rescued from flooding near Mangalore on Friday (pictured)

Yulong Stud workers rescued the horses when their paddock was flooded (pictured)

Officers rescued another woman in her 70s who was trapped in flooding near Newstead along the River Loddon, and a man in a woman in a truck that became trapped while trying to cross the Moorabool River near Maude.

Complacency is to blame for the number of rescues.

Federal and state governments agreed Friday to use Mickleham’s $580 million quarantine facility as an emergency shelter a week after it was officially closed.

The facility will reopen to 250 people early next week, with crisis shelter for six to eight weeks, but the Victorian government said its actual use will depend on demand.

Prime Minister Andrews also announced one-time payments of $560 per adult and $280 per child for people displaced by the floods.

By Friday afternoon, about 1500 applications had been submitted.

Emergency aid centers have been set up near flood zones.

Emergency services help evacuate people from Melbourne suburb of Maribyrnong after a month of rain fell over the course of just two days, causing flash flooding

The River Werribee burst its banks on Friday 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.

Maribyrnong federal member Bill Shorten said the situation was heartbreaking in the area he had called home for 30 years.

“The last major flooding was in 1974, so for many people this would be a new and devastating experience,” said Mr. Shorten.