Residents have been ordered to evacuate a small Victorian town north-west of Bendigo as authorities warn a dam is likely to fail, releasing a metre-high surge of water.
Shortly after 1am on Friday, Vic Emergency said the Skinners Flat reservoir was “likely to breach”, sending three feet (about one metre) of “fast moving strong water” through the township of Wedderburn along Calder Road and onto Wedderburn Junction Road.
A relief center had been set up in the Wedderburn Mechanics’ Institute hall and people were urged to evacuate as soon as possible.
Rochester residents prepare for flooding in the city from the Campaspe River. (Justin McManus)
“If the Skinners Flat Reservoir has already breached by the time you receive this message, please stop evacuating and take shelter to the back of your home for approximately one hour, or until the water recedes “, the authorities warned.
Myra Swann, of the Wedderburn Hotel, said police told her the site should be high enough to escape any flooding, but the situation was still stressful.
“The creek behind us is not as high as it was in 2011, but we don’t know what’s going to happen,” he told 9news.com.au.
Schools closed and trains suspended
Dozens of Victorian schools will be closed and train lines cut across much of the north on Friday as the state waits for the worst of the wet weather to clear.
In Seymour, local residents said the flooding was the “biggest they’d ever seen”. (new)
Three more towns evacuated
Residents in Carisbrook, Seymour and Rochester were ordered to leave and some people along the Goulburn and Campaspe rivers and Seven Creeks were told to head for higher ground.
Dozens of other areas, including the Melbourne suburbs along the Maribyrnong River and Merri Creek, were still under watch and operating flood alerts early this morning.
Areas at risk include Brunswick, Coburg, Fitzroy and Northcote in the inner-north and Essendon, Sunshine, Footscray and Yarraville in the west.
But the worst of the weather was felt in the north as a strong cold front stretching from Echuca to East Gippsland caused widespread flash flooding and dumped heavy rain.
SES Castlemaine is warning people not to drive through flood waters. (SES Castlemaine)
Strathbogie, about 125 kilometers north-east of Melbourne, received 202 millimeters in the 24 hours to 9pm, with 192 millimeters at Charnwood and between 130 and 170 millimeters at Moroko Park, Handcocks , Seymour and the Mount Buffalo Chalet.
Severe weather warning for much of Victoria
A severe weather warning was in place overnight, but the Met Office expected the weather to clear by Friday morning.
Forecasters predicted six-hour rainfall totals of between 30 and 50 millimeters, with daily totals in the range of 50 to 80 millimeters, up to 120 millimeters in higher ground.
The office warned of the potential for mudslides and debris washed onto roads.
A driver tries to drive through flood waters on the High Street in Heathcote. (new)
Nine waterways were under major flood warnings on Friday morning as Vic Emergencies warned that the Campaspe River was expected to exceed the level it reached in the January 2011 floods.
The other systems affected were the Maribyrnong, Weribee, Ovens, King, Goulburn, Loddon and Avoca rivers and the Mount Emu, Seven and Castle Creek rivers.
There was a moderate flood warning for parts of the Yarra, with a major flood warning for parts of the Murray and moderate for other areas.
The weather played havoc with the transport, leaving veterinary nurse Madeleine Sargent and several others stranded for hours en route from Melbourne to Albury.
The weather causes chaos in transport
V/Line cut all services, including replacement coaches, on the Shepparton, Seymour, Albury, Echuca and Swan Hill lines, leaving Sargent and others stranded in Seymour before boarding an 80km bus to Shepparton .
Sargent told 9News.com.au she and three other people traveled the remaining 180 kilometers to Albury by taxi.
V/Line said the lines would remain closed until Friday morning, with a decision yet to be made on resuming later in the day. Water floods an oval at Strathfieldsaye, near Bendigo. (new)
The Geelong, Ballarat and Gippsland lines were still operating, but with buses replacing trains in some parts.
“We apologize to affected passengers and appreciate your patience as we work through this major weather event,” the company said.
Almost 10,000 homes and businesses near Castlemaine, about 100 kilometers northwest of Melbourne, lost power on Thursday night when the substation flooded.
Powercor said it “de-energized” the substation when sandbagging, pumping and moving equipment to higher ground proved insufficient to prevent the control room from flooding.
Standing fields turned into swimming pools as rain floods Victoria
One resident said on social media that they had been told power would not be restored until Friday evening, but Powercor’s website no longer showed any outages in the area as of Friday morning.