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'Worst I can remember': Huge areas of Victoria underwater

Anthony Sharwood

A huge part of Victoria has been inundated by floodwaters this Thursday evening, after one of the most significant and widespread deluges the state has seen in years.

Numerous flood warnings and evacuation orders are in place, with whole towns evacuated and literally hundreds of road closures, as relentless rain has continued today after extremely heavy falls to 9 am Thursday in many areas.

The latest information is that more than 25,000 homes are currently without power, while the SES has received around 2,000 calls for help.

"I've lived here for 12 years and this is the worst flooding I can remember," Cam Walker, a volunteer with Victoria's Country Fire Authority (CFA) told Weatherzone.

Walker spent his day helping sandbag numerous areas – including protecting an electrical substation – in his hometown of Castlemaine, about 40 km south of Bendigo, in Victoria's North Central forecast district.

That area has been one of the hardest-hit by the slow-moving rainband which has continued to deliver rain all day, on the back of heavy falls last night.

As we write this story at 8 pm Thursday, at least one nearby station (Puckapunyal West) had recorded over 60 mm for the day, after 64.8 mm to 9 am this morning.

Rain continues to lash the central part of the state, and while it should start to clear from the west overnight with only a few showers about tomorrow, the flood situation across a very wide area is extremely serious and still worsening.

Melbourne's The Age newspaper reports that Seymour (also in the North Central forecast district) is having its worst flood since 1974, with residents in Seymour and the nearby towns of Rochester and Carisbrook urged to evacuate immediately due to rapidly rising floodwaters.

But this is far from the only seriously affected area. As we told you this morning, numerous Victorian towns had record rainfall last night, with readings in excess of 100 mm in at least two locations.

By Friday morning, the accumulated totals will be well over 200 mm in some areas, and doubtless more roads will be closed or impassable.

Already, well over 200 road closures are in places, and please check the VicTraffic site for the latest info.

Please also check our warnings page to view the latest flood warnings.

Meanwhile, after a very brief rest and a quick feed, CFA volunteer Cam Walker is back out there in Castlemaine helping with sandbagging and other work on his second shift for the day, this time in darkness.

"All the creeks have become rivers and they're now crossing bridges and roads.

"I'm completely buggered, but it's good for emergency services to work together – I'm working with council workers and the SES.

"These flood events are overwhelming. The rain just keeps on going but we're all there pulling in same direction doing what we can."

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