Australian floods reach Victoria state and split community in two

Victoria is the latest area afflicted by a weeks-long crisis which has left 30 people dead, caused once-a-century floods in many areas and could end up being the country's costliest natural disaster.

Horsham in Victoria state resembled a lake after the Wimmera River overflowed its banks yesterday and bisected the community before starting to recede in the afternoon. About 500 homes in the city of 14,000 people were surrounded by water.

Officials sent three emergency alerts overnight to residents in the path of the high water.

"At 5am they were out on the megaphone just yelling 'Evacuate'," West Horsham resident Brett Insall said, but he stayed at his home. "I'm not too worried about it. It's only water."

State Emergency Service incident controller Stephen Warren said the floods would slowly recede during the day.

Across north-central Victoria state, more than 3,500 homes had been evacuated, with 51 towns and 1,500 properties affected by rising waters.

Victoria officials said that the Wimmera River towns of Dimboola and Warracknabeal faced inundation by today.

An evacuation warning was issued to residents of Kerang, who were facing isolation for at least three days when the Loddon River reached its peak. Officials said any resident unable to cope without electricity, water, sewer and telephone connections should leave.

Floodwater left 1,000 households in the state's north-west without power.