Victoria Braces for Wet Weekend as Soaking Rain Causes Widespread Disruptions

Victoria is bracing for a wet weekend as soaking rain continues to fall across parts of the state, causing widespread disruptions and damage.

State Emergency Service (SES) state duty officer Shane McBride said crews had received 200 calls for help since midday yesterday, with six flood rescues taking place. "It's been a very hectic last 24 hours," he said. "But the number that's really scary at the moment is six flood rescues we've had."

Mr McBride urged people not to drive through floodwater, warning that flash flooding could develop quickly. "It's best just to avoid it at all costs," he said.

Floodwaters hit Gippsland dairy farms

Dairy farmer Nicole Saunders said her Maffra farm was already under water, with much more rain forecast for the region. "The amount of rain we've already had overnight … everything is already really saturated and it's not even the biggest [rainfall] yet," Ms Saunders said.

Ms Saunders, who milks 600 dairy cows and runs a strawberry farm, has decided to close her business, The Berry Dairy, for several days due to the impact of the heavy rainfall. She said she had spent much of the past day moving stock to higher ground.

"After three days of rain, Sunday is possibly when it's going to be peak flooding," Ms Saunders said. "There's lots of areas where the water will just cascade across."

Weather forecast

Bureau of Meteorology meteorologist Ursula Connor said a slow-moving low pressure system was expected to drift east tomorrow, with showers and thunderstorms continuing across central and eastern Victoria. "We're expected to see a very persistent and gusty south-easterly flow picking up through tomorrow," Ms Connor said.

"This is going to drive a lot of moisture into southern parts of the state and we see the risk of heavy to maybe even locally intense rainfall developing from the early hours of tomorrow morning, particularly over the Otways and the Strzelecki Ranges," she said.

A dream season for farmers

While the persistent rain could cause riverine and flash flooding in eastern Victoria, grain growers in the state's west said their spring drop was just enough to set the season up perfectly.

John Delahunty farms at Murtoa in the Wimmera and said it had been a season that just kept delivering rain at the right times. "Rain hasn't been our limiting factor this year, it's really just been a beautiful season really," he said.

"All the crops are starting fill now and the rain last night and today, from a farmer's perspective, it's brilliant."

Agriculture consultant Martin Colbert, also based in the Wimmera, said the rain over the past 24 hours was the second most important of the season, after the opening rains in autumn. "The season had allowed crops to set record potential yields and the only outstanding obstacle was a final rain to ensure grain fill," he said.

"That is exactly where the crops will be when this rain event has passed; legumes and oil seeds are podding and cereals are either flowering or filling."

Powercor said 3,000 customers in the Heathcote area were without power during storms last night.