Victorian floods move to Shepparton as recovery efforts get underway in Rochester, Yea, Seymour — as it happened

There is still a moderate flood warning for Bendigo and Bullock Creeks.

A moderate flood warning remains for the Goulburn River between Murchison and Shepparton and between Seymour and Murchison.

Several minor flood warnings are in place including at the Loddon River, Avoca River, Campaspe River, Goulburn River downstream of Shepparton and from Lake Eildon to Seymour, Seven Creeks, Yea River, King River, Avon River, Macalister River, Thomson River, Latrobe River, Tarago River, Bunyip River, Yarra River and the Dandenong Creek.

You can read the latest here and remember:

• For the latest warnings, visit the ABC Emergency website.
• Listen to ABC Local Radio for regular updates — find your local broadcaster here.
• And the Vic Emergency app.

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese announced Commonwealth support packages earlier today.

Here's what we now know.

A one off payment of $640 per adult and $320 per child up to a maximum of $2,240 per eligible family will be available to help cover the costs of essentials like food, clothing, medication and accommodation.

It is a fixed amount and is not calculated based on how much you earn.

You are eligible if you have unmet immediate relief needs and

• Your principal place of residence is, or was, in an evacuation warning area, and the floods or storms have damaged your home
• Or your home has above floor flooding.

The assistance is available for communities and councils with the registered local government areas of:

• Alpine Shire
• Baw Baw Shire
• Benalla Rural City
• Campaspe Shire
• East Gippsland Shire
• Gannawarra Shire
• Greater Bendigo
• Loddon Shire
• Macedon Ranges Shire
• Mansfield Shire
• Mitchell Shire
• Mount Alexander Shire
• Murrindindi Shire
• South Gippsland Shire
• Strathbogie Shire
• Wellington Shire
• Yarra Ranges Shire

More councils may be added in coming days.

The funding is available for emergency relief assistance through the Personal Hardship Assistance Program led through the Victorian Department of Families, Fairness and Housing. 

Support will also be provided to fund council's counter disaster operations. 

Gary Walker went back to his Murchison home this morning to collect some more clothes and assess the damage.

"I didn't expect the water ... to be as high," he says. 

It managed to get into the ground floor of his home but the 78-year-old was remaining optimistic.

"If they say it's peaked now, it won't do any more damage and I won't have to fix my bathroom cabinet again."

His house and some of its content was damaged in the 2022 floods, but this time he gave himself plenty of time to evacuate and prepare.

 "Last time I didn't believe what they said, this time I did," he says.

"It was pretty hairy with two dogs pulling on the leads and water running around you and a very strong current (in 2022)."

The cleanup awaits but Gary says it'll be a lot easier than the last time.

"It didn't come up as quick as it did in '22.

"And it's not going to get as high as '22, so we've dodged a bullet."

He says there are a few things floating around his property. 

Gary has a simple response when people question why he lives where he does, particularly after the recent floods.

"Where else do you live?" he says.

"I'm 78, I'm not going to pack up now ...  If I went anywhere else I wouldn't be happy." 

Reporting by Tyrone Dalton

Popular regional Victorian tourist attraction, Bendigo Pottery, is expecting to be closed for several weeks after knee-high water flooded the complex on Monday morning.

Its owner, Raymond Laurens, says thousands of antiques are being moved out of the complex to make way for repairs.

“There was significant flood damage, especially in our retail space," he says.

"We've got a large antiques bizarre here and that whole area was under water."

“We’ve got over 40 stallholders and they've all got significant holdings and lots of interesting bits and pieces. So they’ll be coming in over the next few days to take their pieces out.”

The complex is pumping out water and mud needs to be cleaned out.

The carpet needs to be ripped up and replaced, and the function area “copped the worst of it”.

“We’re doing our best and we’re trying to get back on track as quickly as possible but it's been trying times,” Mr Laurens says.

Ms Bannister also raised concerns about the issue of insurance following severe weather events such as this one.

Following natural disasters premiums tend to rise and some insurers even stopped offering certain postcodes insurance following the 2022 floods.

"There needs to be a review of what we do there because living in Australia, major weather events and emergencies like this are becoming common place," Ms Bannister says.

"The way it's going everyone's going to be priced out of insurance."

Mitchell Shire Mayor Louise Bannister says the mental health of residents is a big concern with some in Seymour still recovering from the 2022 floods.

"We've had people who had only just moved back into their homes before Christmas, and we've had people who had still not moved back into their homes but have had to evacuate to a relief centre once again," she says.

Seymour was one of the most affected communities with residents told to evacuate as water levels rose, peaking at around 6.8 metres.

Ms Bannister says about 20 businesses and houses may be impacted by above floor flooding but the full extent of the damage is still being assessed. 

A community meeting was held earlier today at the Recovery Centre which is still operating from the floods 15 months ago.

Financial services, mental health services and legal services are available there and people can also access organisations that can provide further support or supplies.

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese is at the Victorian State Control Centre in Melbourne where he announced Commonwealth support for flood affected individuals and local councils.

"Today we've signed off on a commitment to provide further support to Victorians as a result of this flood event that continues to unfold," he says.

"Support in terms of the emergency and hardship payments being made to individuals and families to assist communities in their time of need, but also support for local councils who are doing the work on the ground.

"We're going to make sure people aren't left behind," Mr Albanese said during his visit. 

Mr Albanese had traveled from Queensland where parts of the state have also been battered by storms and flooding in recent weeks.

He acknowledged it would be a traumatic time for people living in flood affected communities, like Rochester, who were still recovering from the 2022 floods.

"We will be providing whatever support is requested to make sure no one is left behind," he says.

"It's what Australians expect and deserve."

Mr Albanese didn't go into detail on what the package would look like, or outline a particular figure available.

ABC reporter Callum Marshall has taken these photos of the Goulburn River at Mooroopna.

The river is expected to peak at about 10.7 metres on Friday.

During a press conference earlier the SES said a flood recovery hotline had been activated for anyone impacted. 

The State Control Centre has since informed us that hotline has not been activated for this event.

It says relief and recovery is being managed by local councils.

If you are directly impacted by the severe weather or flooding, please contact your local council for support.

Parks Victoria has advised a number of parks have been closed due to the impacts of storms and flooding.

You can get the latest here.

The Mount Dandenong Tourist Road at Ferny Creek is still closed following a landslide earlier this week.

It's expected to remain closed for several days.

There's now extensive tree removal and also earthworks being undertaken in the area and works to fix a minor gas leak there too.

There are numerous alternate routes routes which you can find through the VicTraffic website.

The SES have been out door knocking about 300 properties in the Shepparton area, alerting them to the potential of flooding in the area. 

"At this stage we are only expecting a very small number, less than a dozen properties, that may see some direct impacts in and around those homes," Mr Wiebusch says. 

"But there will be extensive flooding in some of the streets in those communities."

He's reminding residents to be cautious of floodwater and not to drive through it.

Sandbags can be collected at the Shepparton Showgrounds.

There will be moderate flooding impacts in and around Murchison as it peaks there this afternoon.

The flows will continue to rise around the Kialla, Mooroopna and Shepparton areas over the next 36 hours, according to Mr Wiebusch.

He says Shepparton and Mooroopna is expected to peak at a moderate level on Friday, reaching about 10.7 metres.

As a comparison, that's much below the peak during the 2022 floods which saw waters reach 12.07 metres.

Ms Macpherson says apart from some isolated storms bringing in some heavy rainfall over the weekend, weather is expected to settle over the next week.

"The good news is, we have got another couple of days of settled weather today and tomorrow," she says.

"We may start seeing some showers and storms popping back up again, particularly in the east and maybe in the north as well."

There is a chance for heavy rainfall on Friday and Saturday but Ms Macpherson says they are expected to be "nothing like the event we have just seen".

"They are expected to be much more isolated and short lived," she says.

Watch and Act messages still remain for parts of the state including for the Bendigo and Bullock Creeks.

There are significant stream flows down towards Pyramid Hill and Kow Swamp as a result.

"We are alerting the community in those areas there is moderate level flooding that is occurring throughout that area which means we're seeing extensive rural inundation and road closures," Mr Wiebusch says. 

Moving to the north east of the state, the Goulburn River has now receded well around Seymour and Yea.

VICSES chief operations officer Tim Wiebusch started with some good news for Rochester residents.

It is now safe to return with the threat of flood reduced.

"We're now seeing minor flooding throughout the Rochester area, on the Campaspe river," he says.

"Those flows have now moved down into Echuca where we are also now seeing minor flooding and we're expecting a peak at that minor flood level throughout today."

Some local road have closed due to flooding and some there is inundation around some of the low lying areas of Echuca. 

"We are not expecting levels anywhere near what we saw in 2022, where it did impact broadly on that community," he says.

Bri Macpherson from the Bureau of Meteorology says this has been the wettest January that we have had in more than a century.

"The first nine days of January in 2024 have been the wettest days of January that we have had for the state on record. Those records go back to about 1900," she says.

"The other interesting fact is that if we had no further rainfall for the rest of January, this month would still be within the top 20 wettest January is that we have on record."

ABC reporter Natalie Whiting is at Murchison where she says the Goulburn River has hit it's peak of 10.5 metres.

• A moderate flood warning remains in place for the Goulburn River between Murchison to Shepparton and between Seymour and Murchison. 
• A moderate flood warning remains for Bendigo and Bullock Creeks.  
• A minor flood warning is in place for the Loddon River, Avoca River, Campaspe River, Seven Creeks, Goulburn River downstream Shepparton and between Lake Eildon and Seymour, King River, Bunyip River, Tarago River, Thomson River, Latrobe River, Macalister River and Avon River.
• The threat of flooding at Yea has passed but due to damage Craige Street, west of Webster Street, is closed but local traffic are able to use it.
• It is safe to return to Rochester after the emergency warning was lifted. 
• In Melbourne - there's a minor flood warning for the Yarra River and Dandenong Creek.