Homes were expected to be inundated with floodwater in Seymour and Rochester Monday afternoon and night, while Shepparton residents awaited their fate.
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Several streets in Seymour were issued with an ‘evacuate now’ notice from VicEmergency shortly before noon on Monday, while 19 streets in Rochester near the Campaspe River were placed on an ‘evacuate immediately’ notice just before 5.30pm.
Victoria SES chief operations officer Tim Wiebusch told a press conference on Monday that 50 homes in Seymour and Yea were immediately at risk of over-floor flooding, with another 140 with flooding below floor level, but that they will be cut off.
The Goulburn River at Seymour peaked at 6.8m at about 4pm Monday, then began to fall.
Thirty-five homes in Rochester were expected to have floodwater over floorboard level, Mr Wiebusch said.
Another 250 properties were expected to have flooding under floorboard level, but their homes may be isolated.
The Campaspe River is expected to peak at 114.8m AHD later on Tuesday.
This is one metre lower than the flood in October 2022.
“We are seeing a level quite different to what we saw in 2022,” Mr Wiebusch said.
Locals banded together on Monday to fill sandbags at the Rochester Recreation Reserve and to sandbag homes and shops.
At nearby Goornong, flash flooding affected some properties, and eight people had to be rescued from floodwater overnight on Sunday.
Residents in Shepparton will have longer to wait to see what will happen with the Goulburn River here.
In the meantime, a sandbag station opened at Shepparton Showgrounds on Monday, and it will open again on Tuesday for those in low-lying areas at risk of flooding.
About 400 sandbags had been collected by residents by 4pm.
According to VicEmergency at 3.40pm on Monday, the Goulburn River at Murchison was likely to exceed the minor flood level of 9m late Monday evening, with further rises possible as upstream flows arrived.
The Goulburn River at Shepparton at 11am Monday was sitting at 4.52m — below minor flood level.
It may exceed the minor flood level of 9.5m on Wednesday morning, with further rises possible.
Mr Wiebusch said that Kialla, Mooroopna and Shepparton expected “moderate flooding, if not higher” mid-week.
Greater Shepparton City Council said that through Wednesday, moderate flooding could be expected, with the potential for low-end major flooding of about 11m.
If this scenario eventuates, this would be more than a metre less than the level during the October 2022 flood event.
Given the current forecast, worst-case scenarios for low-end major flooding indicate that there may more likely be properties isolated by flooding, rather than inundated properties, the council said.
If properties are isolated, it is likely to impact those in low-lying areas.
Regarding the Broken River, minor flooding was likely at Benalla Monday evening.
The Broken River may remain below the minor flood level at Casey Weir into Tuesday.
For the Seven Creeks, minor flooding was occurring at Euroa on Monday and the creek was likely to remain above minor flood level into Tuesday.
A ‘stay informed’ flood watch has been issued for Seven Creeks downstream of Euroa, as well as Castle Creek. River rises and widespread minor flooding with isolated moderate to major flooding is likely to continue into Tuesday for parts of the northern flood watch catchments.
In general, people are being urged to have a flood plan ready and to leave early if they are going to seek shelter elsewhere and to have supplies for at least three days.
Anyone holidaying in the region is also urged to log on to ses.vic.gov.au to download flood warning maps and to know the risks for the area they are visiting.
Mr Wiebusch said he could not stress enough that people should not drive through floodwaters, after the SES had to rescue 38 people on Monday and into Tuesday morning throughout Victoria, some of whom had driven into floodwater.
“Driving through floodwater is the single largest number of fatalities we see from weather events,” he said.
“Do not drive through floodwaters.
“It only takes takes 15cm for a small car to float — that’s the size of a pen,” he said.
For a standard-size sedan, only 30cm of water is needed, while a four-wheel drive can float in 45cm of water — about the size of an A4 sheet of paper.
Senior Journalist