Posted by 
Three communities in regional Victoria have been told to evacuate and thousands more are without power thanks to a flooded substation, as floodwaters rise across the state.
On Thursday evening, evacuation orders were issued first for Rochester, then also for Carisbrook and Seymour, with residents told to be out by 10pm.
Train and coach services have been cut to Seymour and on several other regional lines.
READ MORE: Tasmanians warned to prepare for flash flooding
"If you do not evacuate before this time, your property may be isolated or inundated with water and it may be too late to leave," the warnings from Vic Emergency state.
Flooded substation causes blackout
Residents in several suburbs in Melbourne's west were urged to "move to higher ground" as a result of a major flood warning for the Maribyrnong River.
The watch and act warning on Thursday night affected Essendon, Flemington, Footscray, Yarraville and a host of other suburbs.
In Castlemaine, about 100 kilometres north-west of the city, a flooded power substation knocked out power to about 9800 customers.
"Rising flood waters have now reached a level at our Castlemaine zone substation that makes it unsafe to keep power on at the site," Powercor said, in a statement, adding that workers had tried to keep the water out with sandbags, pumps and raised equipment.
"We have been unable to keep water out of our control room and as a result we have de-energised the substation."
Major flood warnings across the state
On Thursday night, major flood warnings were current for nine waterways, including the Maribyrnong, Werribee, Campaspe and Avoca rivers.
Stay up to date with the latest emergency warnings at Vic Emergency.
Bureau of Meteorology meteorologist Diana Eadie said the most intense showers would begin to cross Melbourne's western suburbs from 5pm on Thursday, before moving into the central and eastern suburbs.
On Thursday afternoon, Eadie said there had been about 22 millimetres of rain to 9am and said the "ground was already very saturated".
In Seymour, local residents said the floods were the "biggest they had ever seen".
"We had floods in 1994, but nothing like this," Kerianne Speechley told 9News Melbourne.
"I sunk probably three foot I had to get myself out of there using a stick to make sure nothing is in the floodwater," local Will Speechley said.
READ MORE: Coroner finds missing pregnant woman was murdered
Earlier on Thursday, more than 40 schools were closed and train lines went down as multiple watch and act alerts were issued.
In central Victoria, Broadford High School was closed at lunchtime, with all students sent home on buses to do remote learning for the rest of the week.
Emergency Management Commissioner Andrew Crisp urged drivers to stay off the roads, to check road closures and be aware that it was a "dynamic situation".
"If you don't need to be on the road today, don't be on the road. What you are doing is you are distracting our emergency services from doing the job we need to be doing," he said.
READ MORE: Victorian State Election: Everything you need to know about the upcoming election
Satellite images published by Weatherzone show a massive cloud band stretching 5000 kilometres from the Indian Ocean to Australia's south-east.
The system is responsible for the current wave of extreme weather to that part of the country.
Huge falls are also impacting Tasmania, which could see up to 200mm of rain in just 24 hours.
A massive 129 millimetres of rain had already fallen in Strathbogie North in central Victoria by 9am on Thursday, while wind gusts overnight reached 109km/h at Mount Hotham.
READ MORE: 'Terrifying' mid-flight brawl forces Jetstar flight to turn around
A severe weather warning for damaging winds and heavy rainfall is in place for most of the state.
The SES had already responded to more than 1600 calls for help in Victoria in the 24 hours until 4pm on Thursday, with the worst of the weather forecast for the state still yet to come.
Of those calls, 911 were for flooding, 193 for trees down, 153 for building damage and crews carried out 30 floodwater rescues.
READ MORE: Mother accused of spending spree after mistakenly receiving $10 million in crypto bungle heads to trial
The Department of Transport has described driving conditions as "extremely hazardous", urging drivers to defer non-essential travel.
"As significant rain moves towards metropolitan Melbourne, many roads are likely to close due to flooding or will be impacted by flood waters, fallen trees and debris," the department said.
"Poor conditions and high traffic volumes will result in challenging conditions on major roads like the Monash Freeway, West Gate Freeway, M80 Ring Road and Eastern Freeway."
READ MORE: When will the rain end? Hint, it's not good news
Parts of regional Victoria begin to flood
By Thursday evening, water was already over major roads, including the Melba, Hume, Calder and Maroondah highways.
Buses began replacing trains on sections of the Shepparton, Albury, Echuca, Swan Hill and Warrnambool lines, before even the coaches were cancelled in some cases.
"All V/Line train, scheduled, and replacement coach services will terminate immediately on the Shepparton, Seymour, Albury, Echuca and Swan Hill lines due to flood-related impacts," V/Line said, in a tweet just before 9pm on Thursday.
Madeleine Sargent said she got stuck in Seymour on the way from Melbourne to Albury and criticised the update as "about four hours too late".
"Currently on a bus to shep with the promise of a taxi to albury for myself and other passengers that have been stranded," she said, in a tweet.
"Can't thank the staff on the ground enough for all of their care and help!"
https://twitter.com/madeleinecate/status/1580460924015898624
READ MORE: 'Dynamic situation': Tasmanians warned to prepare for flash flooding
Sandbagging as Rocherster warned to prepare
Major flooding is expected to hit Rochester, a small town roughly 180 kilometres north of Melbourne, on Friday from 10am, and the Campaspe River had already hit the major flood level from Lake Eppalock to Barnadown on Thursday night.
Rochester residents have been told waters could potentially rise to 115 metres (measured from sea level), affecting hundreds of homes.
Thousands of sandbags were filled and residents were urged to evacuate after they have done their best to prepare their homes and businesses for a flood.
Up to 80 millimetres of rain was expected in the north and west of Victoria on Thursday, with isolated totals of 120 millimetres or higher.
Roads in Castlemaine, Heathcote and Bendigo had flooded, cutting off parts of the town.
https://twitter.com/ColibanWater/status/1580357276614815749
One Heathcote resident told 9News Melbourne she had never seen flooding this bad.
In Echuca, residents were advised to boil their water until further notice after storm water entered a treated water storage tank.
"This may compromise the safety of the drinking water," Coliban Water via Twitter.
READ MORE: An extra $170 a week – The real numbers of inflation hitting Aussies
READ MORE: Sellers offering to take on strangers' demerit points for cash in Facebook black market
On Wednesday, about 100 people were evacuated from Falls Creek due to a slow-moving landslide cutting off the access road.
Crisp, the Emergency Management Commissioner, told 3AW that the state will continue to see this cycle over the next six to eight weeks.
Tasmania too is expecting an inundation, with up to 300 millimetres of rain to fall in places on Thursday.
By 9am on Thursday, a total of 185 millimetres had already fallen at Great Lake East and 148 millimetres had fallen at Lake Mackenzie.
READ MORE: Melbourne airport security breach caused by an innocent 'mistake'
https://twitter.com/BOM_Tas/status/1580351590682136577
New South Wales is also in the firing line with rivers still swollen from recent rain.
A woman and her daughter had to be rescued from floodwaters at Forbes in the state's Central West.
Source: 9News
