TRANSCRIPT
Torrential rain has seen creeks and rivers busting their banks, and towns in the central part of the state hit by flash flooding, with record rainfall in some areas.
The towns of Seymour and Yea in the central Victoria have been evacuated.
In one town, Heathcote, there was more than three months' worth of rain recorded in twenty-four hours.
Victoria's Emergency Management Commissioner, Rick Nugent, says rescuers have been kept busy.
"There have been over 38 rescues, swiftwater rescues, and rescues from floodwater, from people in their homes, and driving through floodwater, and some of those others who are caught up in the flash floods."
Bendigo Mayor Andrea Metcalf says the city's showground has been turned into a community crisis hub.
"So, we've got an emergency relief centre set up there. The police asked us to set that up at 3am this morning. So, that was set up straight away. Red Cross is there- there's doing food, blankets."
The flash flooding has inundated properties to the north of the city.
Bales of hay rendered useless by the rapidly rising water.
It's the fourth bout of torrential rain since Christmas for some communities- and some of the people in these communities are still recovering from massive floods in 2022.
That makes for tensions getting quite high in some communities.
In the town of Rochester, spokespeople for local authorities were heckled by a resident, who thinks not enough has been done to prevent disasters like this in the first place.
"All of this is aftermath. It's after the event. We need preventative measures prior to the flood. This is on the other end of the scale."
The State Emergency Service has set up an incident control room north of Bendigo, as it is predicted the Campaspe River will reach major flood levels.
The service has received around 920 calls for assistance for these latest floods.
Locals are now sandbagging in Goornong, about 30 kilometres from Bendigo.
The worst of the floodwaters there have receded, but people are not leaving anything to chance.
It's not just Victoria that has been impacted, with parts of neighbouring South Australia and New South Wales also taking heavy rainfall.
All of this equals a lot of human suffering- and very big repair bill for governments.
Federal Treasurer Jim Chalmers acknowledges both of those things- but says the budget bottom line won't be put before helping Australians.
"There's no question that these natural disasters cost a lot. They cost the economy a lot, they cost the budget a lot when it comes to rebuilding. But it's the human consequences that matter the most."
