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The small town of Rochester in rural Victoria resembles an inland sea, after being inundated by floodwaters.
The community of 3113 has been swamped, resulting in a local death as the crisis unfolds across the state.
One of the town's own, 71-year-old Kevin Wills, was found dead in his backyard on Saturday morning.
Police said his wife was there as the flood hit their High Street property at around 9.30am.
She became trapped but was rescued by emergency services and taken to a nearby relief centre.
Victorian Premier Daniel Andrews shared his sympathies with the tight-knit community, saying they "will be saddened to know one of their community has passed away".
Andrews said the death reiterated the seriousness of the flooding event.
"This is potentially very, very dangerous," he said.
Other residents' homes and possessions have been destroyed by floodwaters.
Community members are processing the loss and even the most stoic residents are struggling to hold it together.
Like many, resident Brian Gemmill was reduced to tears when he discovered he had lost everything.
"Four feet now, everything's gone," Gemmill said.
READ MORE: Dog spends terrifying night trapped on table in flooded Victorian home
The Rochester resident was comforted by a man who faced the same loss.
Nearby a family waded through floodwaters to retrieve salvagable items bit-by-bit from their home.
"It all happened so quickly we had no chance to think about anything," resident Teresa said.
Her son Glen Moore said he came to the area "thinking it would be a safe option".
"Then it got flooded again so we're just here grabbing everything that we can," he said.
Dozens of residents have been evacuated on buses an hour away to Bendigo, as the number of northern Victorian safe havens shrink by the day.
As the floodwaters continue to rise across parts of the states, emergency services chiefs issued a stark warning on Saturday, saying Victoria could experience "some of the largest evacuations" in the state's history in the coming days.
The premier echoed the sentiment, reminding Victorian residents that just because the rain has cleared, they're far from being "out of the woods".
Residents can find the latest warnings and evacuation orders on the VicEmergency website and weather updates on the Bureau of Meteorology website.
Source: 9News
