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Residents living in Maribyrnong are slowly returning to their properties to assess the damage after floodwaters inundated homes earlier today.

Many were asked to evacuate between 4am and 5am after the Maribyrnong River began to rise rapidly after yesterday's deluge.

While many people are able to return home, some are still trapped, including a 92-year-old grandmother and her son.

LIVE UPDATES: 'Too late to leave': NSW residents trapped as flooding hits

The Yarra River also is bursting its banks, though it isn't expected to rise as high as the Maribyrnong, which has peaked at 4.18m.

Aerial shots taken this morning showed the rising waters moving up to houses in the area and surrounding suburbs, just kilometres from the Melbourne CBD, and even threatening to inundate Flemington racecourse.

Homes, shops, service stations, pubs and even stables have been subject to the deluge.

Boathouse manager Susan Kovacic said water had risen so high, it was now near the steps of the restaurant.

She said she had never seen anything like this before.

READ MORE: Melbourne residents ordered to evacuate as streets go under

"We have been keeping tabs on things and we did some sand bagging, we have moved everything away from the terrace," she 9News.

"You see flooding on TV and until you are here, it's just surreal.

"Seeing people across the road under water and we have never seen anything like this before."

Emergency services spent the day carrying out rescues of people who were stranded in their houses by the rapidly-rising river.

SES Emergency Management Commissioner Andrew Crisp said the swift rise in the Maribyrnong was due to a combination of 150mm of rain falling upstream, combined with shifting tides.

Relief centres have been opened in the area, including the Maribyrnong Community Centre, for people to head to after they've left their homes.

READ MORE: When will the rain end? Hint, it's not good news

Residents have said they were caught out as flood levels rise higher and faster than expected.

"We got a knock on the door about 5am this morning to get out of there," one man said.

"Didn't expect it to get this high. But it doesn't look like it's going to stop any time soon."

Another resident has described the chaotic scenes that unfolded as fast-moving, muddy floodwaters inundated the suburb.

"We were told last night it was going to peak at 6 this morning, at 2.6 metres," local Jen told 9News Melbourne.

Jen said she only had time to grab some medication, a phone charger and place some photos on tables.

Resident Mel said the experience was disorientating.

"It didn't seem real, to be honest, but the warnings seem to have been escalating," she said.

READ MORE: Aerial vision shows extent of Victoria floodwaters as multiple rivers rise

Speaking with 9News, one resident who lives one street over from the river said the water moved towards the property very quickly.

She said water completely inundated her property.

"You can see it's receding at the front of people's properties. But at the back, there's nowhere for it to go."

Maribyrnong Mayor Anthony Tran said preparations for the flooding began nearly 24 hours ago.

"I spoke to one of the SES members and they told me they rescued 12 people from one residential site and that is a substantial rescue," he said.

"For us, this is a part of our recovery and to be honest, Maribyrnong residents have been so resilient.

"They've been so co-operative and most importantly, they've been willing to show the fight that I think a lot of us have in us."

Local federal MP Bill Shorten told 9News the focus will now be on helping residents deal with damaged homes and lost belongings.

"I think the real thing will hit in the next couple of days. It's been scary. It's been shocking. But there's been exhilaration," he said.

"People are operating on adrenaline."

Shorten said it would be a difficult couple of weeks for all residents. 

"When they get back into their houses tonight, people will realise the extent of the clean-up," he said.

"The mud and flood river is a beast, once it gets into your house. It stinks.

"It's hard, family heirlooms will have been damaged."

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Thousands of homes across Victoria are now inundated or isolated by floodwater in what authorities have described as a "major emergency for the state".

About 4700 homes are without power, with the largest group in Apollo Bay.

Evacuation orders have been issued for a number of Victorian towns including Seymour, Rochester, Carisbrook, Wedderburn and Charlton.

LIVE UPDATES: 'Too late to leave': NSW residents trapped as flooding hits

Speaking at the State Control Centre today, Premier Daniel Andrews said 500 homes were flooded across the state and another 500 have been isolated.

Andrews warned that number was expected to rise, particularly in the Goulburn Valley.

Earlier, Andrews confirmed online payments for emergency payments are available for people who've been affected by the flood.

He said already 1500 people have applied for the emergency payments.

"It's about accommodation, food clothing and medicine," he said.

"We're processing those fast we can.

"We'll have money out to people as quickly as possible."

READ MORE: Victorians impacted by floodwaters eligible for emergency payments

Meanwhile, a man reported missing earlier today was found alive clinging to a tree.

Police said the man drove his Toyota Landcruiser through floodwaters near the Loddon River in Newbridge and was washed downstream.

Meanwhile, another woman in her 70s was rescued after becoming trapped in floodwaters in near Newstead.

Emergency Management Commissioner Andrew Crisp warned the event was a "major emergency for the state".

Crisp said there were Australian Defence Force personnel that had been deployed into north-east Victoria.

"They are in Shepparton, helping with moving sand bags and filling sandbags," he said.

"This is a major emergency and we consider this a state of disaster.

"At this point in time, while it is a major emergency, everyone is working very well together."

READ MORE: Woman trapped in Victoria's floodwaters reunited with dying dog

'Flood situation still evolving'

Bureau of Meteorology meteorologist Diana Eadie has warned that the "flood situation is still very much evolving".

While the severe weather warning has now been cancelled for heavy rain and damaging winds, many flood warnings are currently in place.

"Major flood warnings are currently in place for the Murray river, the Avoca, the Barwon, the Broken, the Campaspe River, the Goulburn river, the Loddon and Maribyrnong river," Eadie said.

However, in good news, the Maribyrnong River has now peaked after bursting earlier this morning.

To 2am today, the highest rainfall total seen in the state was 220mm at Strathbogie North, followed by 209mm at Charnwood.

READ MORE: Aerial vision shows extent of Victoria floodwaters as multiple rivers rise

But the Bureau of Meteorology is continuing to monitor the weather situation – stay up to date with its warnings online.

In Seymour, grandmother Lynn was forced to leave a lot of beloved items behind when she fled her home.

"I was here in the '74 floods, the water didn't get in," she said.

This time, though, her home was left with about a foot (30cm) of water in it, she said.

"It's my family home … my father built that house," she said.

Heavy items like older furniture had to be left behind, along with most of Lynn's clothing.

"I thought because the water didn't get in in '74, even though I put stuff up, I didn't get clothing out," she said.

"I assumed the water wouldn't get in (but) you shouldn't assume, should you?"

Lynn said the impact on the town was "devastating".

"They say there's more to come. You see people's homes inundates, it's awful," she said.

"You wonder whether something more can be done to stop this sort of thing happening."

READ MORE: Families caught out as waters swamp houses in inner Melbourne

Floods near CBD in Melbourne

Dean Narramore from the Bureau of Meteorology said people in north-west Melbourne said "major flooding" could exceed levels of the early 1990s.

Victoria SES chief operations officer Tim Wiebusch said flooding was expected elsewhere.

"But we've also got the Yarra River with all our bike paths, all our recreation reserves that are now underwater at minor flooding," he said.

"So people need to be aware that our rivers are in flood pretty much right across the state now.

"Obviously the catchments are still responding to what has been a very significant amount of rainfall."

He urged people across the state to stay across the emergency warnings, and to prepare for evacuation if their area was issued with a watch-and-act notice.

READ MORE: When will the rain end? Hint, it's not good news

More towns evacuated

Residents from Wedderburn, Carisbrook, Seymour, Benalla and Rochester have been ordered to leave and some people along the Goulburn and Campaspe rivers and Seven Creeks were told to head for higher ground.

Residents holding out against floodwaters in Seymour, north of Melbourne, have been told it's now too late to leave.

The Goulburn River is currently at record levels of 8.2 metres, higher than previous massive flooding in 1974.

Waters there have already started to recede, but not before some residents saw their homes swallowed up.

"I just came to have a look, and my house is just down that street, so I would say that it's gone underwater," one woman told Today.

"Pretty sad to look at. Pretty devastating, because I'm a single mum and got my mum, I look after my mum as well, so, yeah, we just got my daughter and my mum out."

READ MORE: Pair likely to face charges after 'terrifying' mid-flight brawl which forced Jetstar flight to turn around

Narramore said Seymour and Euroa could expect flood levels to ease later today.

But at Rochester and Charlton, the peak won't come until Saturday morning.

"Some major flooding expected (at Rochester) tonight and especially into tomorrow," he said.

"They're expecting major flooding into Saturday, slowly easing Sunday but hopefully by Sunday night dropping out of those levels.

"But there's so much water in the systems at the moment."

In Rochester, which has been preparing for the floods for days, residents have also been ordered to higher ground.

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Anybody who stays in the town past this afternoon is likely to be stranded until Wednesday next week at least, with floodwaters set to top 2011 levels and cut off all roads into the community.

Shortly after 1am on Friday, Vic Emergency said the Skinners Flat Reservoir was "likely to breach", sending three feet (about one metre) of "strong fast moving waters" through the Wedderburn Township along the Calder Highway and out towards Wedderburn Junction Road.

READ MORE: 'Nasty' woman blamed for Queensland woodchipper death 

A relief centre had been set up at the Wedderburn Mechanics Institute Hall and people were urged to evacuate as soon as possible. 

"If the Skinners Flat Reservoir has already been breached at the time of receiving this message, cease evacuation and shelter towards the back of your house for approximately one hour, or until the water subsides," authorities warned.

Myra Swann of the Wedderburn Hotel said police told her the venue should be high enough to escape any flooding but the situation was still nerve wracking.

"The creek behind us isn't as high as what it was in 2011 but we don't know what's going to happen," she told 9news.com.au.

An elderly woman was left badly shaken after she and her two dogs had to be rescued in Seymour.

"I'm scared," she told Today.

READ MORE: Melbourne airport security breach caused by an innocent 'mistake'

She said the water hadn't quite entered her house yet, but "it was time for me to go".

Keiranne Speechley and her son Will watched their home in Seymour go underwater overnight.

"Definitely weren't expecting it to get this bad," she told Today.

"We've never had floodwaters like this in my time."

She said she and Will had made the decision to leave home yesterday evening, at about 4-5pm.

"We were just watching it steadily rise and then it seemed to come to a bit of a standstill. We thought we'd be okay," Speechley said.

"Then we had another deluge of rain late in the day and it rose about two foot in about 30 minutes and we decided there and then it was get out now or we weren't going to be."

Dozens more areas are still under watch and act alerts for flooding this morning.

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Weather causes transport chaos

V/Line cut all services, including replacement coaches, on the Seymour, Echuca Shepparton or Albury.

On the Geelong Line, trains are operating between Southern Cross and Geelong/Waurn Ponds.

Services will operate between Southern Cross and Bendigo only.

There are currently no train or coach services operating between Bendigo and Epsom/Echuca.

There are currently limited impacts to the Ballarat Line.

The parents of Hannah Clarke believe amendments to stalking laws could have helped their daughter before her life was cut short two years ago.

Queensland Attorney-General Shannon Fentiman introduced the first phase of legislation to combat coercive control on Friday afternoon, designed to tighten laws around domestic and family violence.

Fentiman said authorities intend to amend the definition of domestic and family violence to include a pattern of behaviour, modernise the offence of unlawful stalking and update outdated language in the criminal code.

READ MORE: Inquest into murder of Hannah Clarke and her three children finds failure to protect young mum

The changes come ahead of a move to criminalise coercive control in Queensland by the end of 2023.

"My message is even if there is no physical violence in your relationship, if you are intimidated and in fear because of controlling behaviour, what is happening to you is domestic and family violence," Fentiman said.

"Please come forward, there is help available."

Sue and Lloyd Clarke applauded the new measures to tighten existing laws, which they believe would have helped their daughter's situation "invaluably".

Hannah and her three children died in the Brisbane suburb of Cannon Hill in 2020 when her estranged husband Rowan Baxter ambushed them on the school run, doused them in petrol and set the car alight.

Her mother said before her daughter's death, Baxter had "about six or eight iPhones hidden around the house".

"He would listen to everything she did," she said.

"He had one in the car watching everywhere she went."

READ MORE: Monster storm sinks Melbourne suburbs

During the announcement of the new measures, Fentiman said the laws "need to keep pace with the kind of technology that perpetrators are using to stalk their victims".

"We know that perpetrators use invasive technology to track their victims – where they go, who they see, even restricting the amount of money they can spend," she said.

"It used to be that someone might physically follow a victim around and of course that still happens, but now perpetrators are using sophisticated GPS tracking in victims' cars (and) in children's toys."

Hannah's mother said that measure alone "would've given (Hannah) a bit of ammunition" to have a stalking and criminal offence put to Baxter.

"Unfortunately we didn't get to court but it would've been great to have that if we had gotten to court," she said.

READ MORE: Sydney thieves targeting precious hidden car part

Hannah's father said education was also needed to put a stop to coercive control.

"We didn't know about it until it happened to us," he said.

"Younger generations, they need to know about coercive control and what a healthy relationship is.

"We need to educate adults as well."

Fentiman said the changes will also modernise outdated language in the criminal code, including the term carnal knowledge and the offence of maintaining a relationship with a child.

The bill introduced today will go to the legal affairs and safety committee to examine.

READ MORE: When will the rain end? Hint, it's not good news

It is expected to be debated in the last sitting week of parliament or early next year.

"It's about sending a clear message to women about what is happening to them is criminal behaviour," Fentiman said.

"By modernising our laws and keeping pace with the technologies perpetrators are using, not only can we help better protect women but we can hold those perpetrators to account."

If you or someone you know is impacted by sexual assault, domestic or family violence, call 1800RESPECT on 1800 737 732 or visit 1800RESPECT.org.au.

In an emergency, call Triple Zero (000).

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