As of 9pm on Friday, 101 emergency warnings were active across the state, including evacuation orders for homes near the Maribyrnong River and in Charlton, Benalla, Rochester and Murchison. More than 230 people have been rescued from the waters since Wednesday.
loading
In the Melbourne suburb of Maribyrnong, angry residents claimed they were not given enough warning before the Maribyrnong River flooded on Friday morning, surpassing the level of the area’s devastating 1974 floods. At least 60 homes were flooded.
State Emergency Service incident controller John Bates said the modeling was “complicated” and the water had risen much faster than expected. “It came out really fast. And surprisingly fast for all of us.”
In Murchison, a small town east of Shepparton, police dropped off Troy Leay at the local station on Friday afternoon. With him were his two dogs, Diesel and Ripper, and two large bags filled with clothes and a few other things.
Murchison resident Troy Leay and his two dogs were evacuated from the flood. Credit: Eddie Jim
Everything he owns on his five-hectare property on the banks of the Goulburn River was now abandoned on a shrinking island, inside a house he said was uninsured, where the water almost lapped the its front door.
“I feel distressed,” Leay said. “I’m going to lose my house.”
Read more about our Victorian flood coverage here.