A major landslide on the Great Ocean Road last week. Credit:Courtesy of Seven News "Princes Highway may be an alternative route for some, however it is also closed at Birregurra, due to flooding. "Access to Lorne is maintained via Deans Marsh-Lorne Road." With some residents in Hamilton forced to flee the rising waters, Premier Daniel Andrews told a media conference that grants of up to $1300 were available for people who had to leave their property because of inundation. There will be further rebuilding grants when residents return.

Great Ocean Road weather damage. Credit:Chris Ridd Mr Andrews urged people not to enter floodwaters in cars or by foot. "Just exercise some commonsense," he said. The Premier described the landslides on the Great Ocean Road as "some minor slippage", adding, in reference to the road closures, "there's some potential for more serious landslips. Safety has to come first." The Yarra was going full bore at Dights Falls in Warrandyte. Credit:Eddie Jim Water is spilling over the Grange Burn levee in Hamilton, where homes have been evacuated. Residents of almost 50 homes surrounding it have been found safe and sound, the State Emergency Service says.

"We door-knocked 48 residents in the area, those people are aware and the alert was issued nice and early so that people could take action," a SES spokeswoman said. Landslides on the Great Ocean Road. Credit:Courtesy of Seven News Emergency Management Commissioner Craig Lapsley said significant rain had started last Friday in south-western Victoria. He said Clunes, Carisbrook and Maryborough had been affected from Tuesday night. The swollen waters of the Merri Creek at the Coburg after two days of heavy rainfall. Credit:Justin McManus

Mr Lapsley said a swift water rescue was carried out on Wednesday afternoon near Maryborough in which two people were found on the roof of a car that had been driven into water. A helicopter was sent to rescue them. Mr Lapsley said Hamilton was "open for business". The side of a hill had slipped down on to the Great Ocean Road thanks to the heavy rain. Credit:Chris Ridd However, homes on Apex Drive, Holden Street and Abbott Street in Hamilton have been evacuated. Southern Grampians Shire Council chief executive Michael Tudball said he was "quietly confident" two temporary levees on the Grange Burn catchment would not break.



The SES has told Hamilton residents to "act now and take immediate precautions to protect your life and property". On Wednesday morning, the Victorian SES sent out an evacuation alert to the entire town. Mr Tudball said that made a lot of residents panic and the council immediately set up a relief centre inside Hamilton's leisure centre. Water gushing across the Great Ocean Road on Wednesday. Credit:Chris Ridd But then a second alert was issued, instructing residents of three streets to evacuate.

"It was a bit of a scare when the emergency alert message went out to all of Hamilton, I'm not sure what happened there," Mr Tudball said. Homes near the Grange Burn in Hamilton were evacuated on Wednesday. Credit:Judy de Man/ Hamilton Spectator "We immediately opened a relief centre, for anyone who was displaced, but no one has registered with us at this point." He said council was working with the SES but no businesses in the town, or major highways, had been affected by the floods. Mr Tudball said some of the area surrounding Grange Burn was under water, including a park.

"Subject to any more rains of inflows, we're confident the water level will start to drop later this evening," he said. The SES has received almost 400 calls for help from across Victoria since midnight on Tuesday, with 203 of those calls about flooding. "Our main concern is keeping an eye on the waters rising in the west of the state," the spokeswoman said. "We're also keeping an eye on the Great Ocean Road area, after a landslide there."

In Melbourne there have been 28 calls for assistance, mostly related to flooding. VicRoads has been forced to close more than 50 roads in Victoria. The SES has flood warnings and flood advice in place for most of the state, with new alerts being issued every few hours. The floods have been brought on by days of heavy rain, which saw the Mallee town of Walpeup receive more than its average monthly rainfall in one day.

There are a number of current flood warnings for the state: for the Snowy, Werribee, Barwon, Glenelg, Kiewa, Ovens and King, Campaspe, Loddon, Avoca, Wimmera and Murray rivers and Mount Emu Creek. A Melbourne man was swept one kilometre down a flooded creek, while trying to save his dog from drowning on Tuesday night. "As usual, I was just walking the dogs along the creek. They were frolicking along and then Mia went down to have a swim and the water just grabbed her and took her," Peter told 774 ABC Melbourne. "She was trying to get out but she couldn't. I realised she was going to die, so I tried to get her." He was rescued by firefighters and taken to hospital with hypothermia.

In Melbourne, people living around Werribee, Maribyrnong, Yarra, Dandenong and Bunyip catchments have been warned there could be minor flooding. "In the 24 hours to midday Tuesday, rainfall totals of up to 41mm have been recorded in the Greater Melbourne catchments," the SES warning says.