Key Points
- A 65-year-old man has been found dead in floodwaters in northern Victoria
- Communities are remaining on high alert for the swollen Murray River system to inundate homes.
A 65-year-old man has been found dead in floodwaters in northern Victoria, as communities remain on high alert for the swollen Murray River system to inundate homes.
The man was last known to be on a tractor on a property off Blacksmiths Road at Nathalia on Tuesday afternoon, police said.
Emergency services started a search when he failed to return home about 10pm and found the unoccupied tractor in floodwaters.
A family member found the man's body in floodwaters on Paynes Road about 8.45am on Wednesday, police said.
The exact circumstances are yet to be determined, but at this stage the death is not being treated as suspicious.
His death follows that of a 71-year-old man found in the backyard of his Rochester home on Saturday.
Waters in parts of the state continue to recede and the threat of heavy rainfalls during forecast thunderstorms in coming days has eased slightly, Bureau of Meteorology senior meteorologist Kevin Parkin said.
"Today, we're just expecting thunderstorms in the far north-west of the state. No rainfall across the flooded areas in the north or in central parts," he told reporters on Wednesday.
Floodwaters in parts of Victoria continue to recede. Source: AAP / DIEGO FEDELE
On Friday and Saturday, widespread showers across the state are expected to bring between two and 10 mm of rain, but there could be higher falls of up to 30mm in north-central and north-eastern parts of Victoria.
"We'll be watching that thunderstorm activity pretty closely and issuing warnings for more of a flash flood risk rather than heavy rainfall over a wider area," Mr Parkin said.
Evacuation warnings are in place for Echuca and the smaller towns of Barmah and Lower Moira, with the Murray likely to start peaking on Wednesday.
At Echuca, there are concerns river levels could reach 95 metres, higher than the devastating 1993 floods, by Friday.
Echuca residents have spent the past few days building a makeshift, 2.5-kilometre flood levee from sand and sandbags to protect thousands of homes and businesses.
However, the wall has divided the town in two, leaving properties and people on the wrong side susceptible to being inundated.
State Emergency Service chief operating officer Tim Wiebusch defended the wall, saying it was developed by the incident controller working with the catchment management authority, local government, Victoria Police and others.
"Yes, that will see a small number of properties outside of that levee also potentially be impacted," he said.
Flood warnings are also in place for towns along the Loddon, Campaspe and Goulburn rivers.
Overnight on Tuesday, there was major flooding at Appin South on the Loddon River and at Rochester on the Campaspe River with residents being told to move to higher ground.
Major flooding at Kerang from the Loddon River is expected overnight on Wednesday, with the water forecast to peak around the January 2011 level.
A sandbag levee is expected to keep the majority of the town dry, but it could be cut off for up to seven days.
The highway out of Kerang will be closed from Tuesday night.
"For some communities, this is a record flood event," Premier Daniel Andrews said on Wednesday.
Residents are being advised to heed the flood warnings, evacuate or move to higher ground if necessary and stockpile medication and other emergency supplies in case they are cut off.
With the floods hitting prime agricultural areas and many small businesses, the state government has announced a $73.5 million relief package to help farmers and business owners clean up.
