Man found dead in backyard as floodwaters continue to threaten Victoria, Tasmania and NSW

A 71-year-old man has been found dead at his home in Rochester in Victoria's north after the regional town was inundated by flooding.

Rochester in Victoria's north is among the towns hit hard by flooding. Source: AAP / JAMES ROSS

Key Points

• A man has been found dead at a home in Rochester in Victoria's north after floodwaters swept through the area.

A man has been found dead at a home in Rochester in Victoria's north after floodwaters swept through the area.

The 71-year-old was found in the backyard of his High St home about 9.30am on Saturday morning.

Victoria Police and SES crews are near the scene but unable to reach the property as it is cut off by floodwater.

A resident navigates a flooded street in Maribyrnong, Melbourne, Friday, 14 October, 2022. Floods have left hundreds isolated and homes inundated in Victoria. Source: AAP / NATHAN COOTE/PR IMAGE

Thousands of residents in central Victoria have been told to evacuate or prepare to leave their homes with no idea when they will be able to return.

Emergency evacuation orders were in force on Saturday morning for Charlton Township at the foothills of the Great Dividing Range, Orrvale near Shepparton and the northeastern town of Wangaratta for properties within the Parfitt Road Levee System.

By 11am on Saturday more than 460 homes had been damaged by floodwater rising above floor level and around 500 properties remain isolated.

The SES had performed about 350 rescues over the flood emergency.

Of those rescues, 160 happened at properties in Rochester when residents who chose to remain in their homes had to be saved, while 150 involved people being rescued from stranded vehicles.

Shepparton in central Victoria is expected to experience its worst flooding in almost three decades from Sunday and residents have been told to prepare to evacuate.

It is now too late to leave the towns of Murchison and Murchison East, which are downstream of Shepparton along the Goulburn River.

As of 10am on Saturday there were major flood warnings for parts of the Avoca River, Goulburn River, King River, Mt Emu Creek, Loddon Weir, Ovens River, Broken River and Seven Creeks.

Fourteen relief centres and 55 sandbag collection sites have been established across the state.

The extent of the damage to hundreds of homes in the inner Melbourne suburb of Maribyrnong is just starting to become clear after the Maribyrnong River breached its banks on Friday.

Labor minister and Maribyrnong MP Bill Shorten said many houses and a lot of community infrastructure had been damaged.

"I think that people here knew the theory of flood damage, but because it hasn't happened in a couple of generations of this significance I think it's a shock," Mr Shorten told ABC News.

Floodwaters inundated properties in Maribyrnong in Melbourne's west on Friday. Source: AAP / NATHAN COOTE

People displaced by the floods are eligible for one-off payments of $560 per adult and $280 per child.

Some 3,000 Victorians had applied for the payments by 11am on Saturday.

The federal and state governments have agreed to use the recently retired $580 million Mickleham COVID-19 quarantine facility as emergency accommodation.

The facility will reopen early next week for 250 people with crisis accommodation available for six to eight weeks, but its actual use will depend on demand.

Victorian Premier Daniel Andrews said local defence personnel were assisting with the emergency across regional Victoria and up to 60 additional ADF experts will help with the clean-up in coming days.

Mostly dry conditions have been forecast for Monday and Tuesday across Victoria, but flooding is expected to return later in the week.

Tasmania

Residents in flood-hit parts of Tasmania face an anxious wait for rivers to subside before they're allowed to begin the bleak task of assessing damage.

Emergency authorities are closely monitoring flooded rivers and tributaries, warning they may rise and fall as water flows out to sea.

State Emergency Service acting director, Leon Smith said it was a "dangerous period" even though the rain had eased.

The town of Deloraine in the northwest is among the worst affected, with aerial footage showing flooding of properties and businesses.

Mr Smith said there was still a lot of work to be done before damage assessments could begin but he knew of bridges being destroyed.

Communities in north and northwest Tasmania have been urged to stay vigilant amid ongoing flooding. Credit: TASMANIA POLICE

River peaks in some parts are expected to exceed those in mid-2016, when flooding in the region killed three people.

It remains unclear when the port of Devonport will reopen after it was closed to commercial operations on midday Thursday ahead of flooding in the Mersey River.

The closure forced the Spirit of Tasmania ferry operator to cancel four Bass Strait sailings.

"It is very important to understand that there are potential dangers underwater, even if they are not visible on the surface," TasPorts chief operating officer Stephen Casey said.

"The flooded river also creates dangerous currents in the port area that are a hazard to safe vessel manoeuvring, particularly for larger commercial vessels."

New South Wales

Thousands of residents in the NSW town of Forbes have been hit with flooding despite a rainfall reprieve for much of the state.

The Lachlan River reached major flood level in the central-west town on Friday, with access to its business centre cut off.

Some 2,200 Forbes residents and 250 homes had been affected in the flooding, according to the State Emergency Service.

A home surrounded by floodwater in Forbes, NSW, Friday, 14 October, 2022. Source: AAP / STUART WALMSLEY/AAPIMAGE

NSW SES southern zone commander Benjamin Pickup said the flood focus was on the Lachlan River and the Murrumbidgee River near Wagga Wagga, with residents told to get ready to evacuate at nearby Narrandera and other low-lying areas.

"We also continue to see major flood warnings across the Murray River with those significant rainfall events they had in Victoria yesterday and the day before, and that will be an area of focus going through to next week," he told ABC TV.

The SES performed seven flood rescues across NSW in the past 24 hours and it received 213 calls for help.

A let-up in the rain has been forecast for most of NSW in the coming days, although the Bureau of Meteorology says renewed flooding is possible for parts of the central west and southwest.

Wendy and Kim Muffet kayak up their driveway with Pete the kelpie in Forbes, NSW, Friday, 14 October, 2022. Source: AAP / STUART WALMSLEY/AAPIMAGE

More rain is expected to lash towns such as Gundagai, east of Wagga Wagga, from mid-next week.

Significant falls in northern Victoria will continue to affect the Murray River, leading to possible minor flooding in Albury and other NSW towns near the southern border.

Mr Pickup said it was possible rivers would rise rapidly even if the weather was fine due to the significant rainfall across western NSW over the past few weeks.

"The (flooding) will continue to move downstream, so we encourage residents to be aware of the conditions and monitor if they live near a watercourse," he said.