Victoria, Tasmania latest states to be swamped

Storms cut power to thousands of homes across Victoria. Photo / Thinkstock

Victoria yesterday became the latest Australian state to be swamped by flooding and thousands of people were forced out of their homes.

Residents of Carisbrook, near Maryborough, were ordered to evacuate after flash flooding had their normally 10m-wide creek running swiftly at 500m wide.

Residents in South Australia were told to prepare for the flooding of local creeks because of inflows from the Victorian floods.

Some of Tasmania's heaviest recorded rain forced the evacuation of residents across the state, with rivers and dams bursting their banks.

In Melbourne, cars were left stuck in deep water by flash floods in the north of the city and the Yarra River burst its banks.

More than 40 of Victoria's weather stations had their highest recorded rainfall. Many had an entire summer's rain in one night, the heaviest fall occurring at Mt William, which recorded 133mm in 24 hours.

Emergency workers evacuated about 70 people from 30 homes in Beaufort, west of Ballarat, amid fears that a reservoir had breached its banks, and storms cut power to thousands of homes across the state.