Victoria's turn for flood devastation

One of the worst floods in Victoria's history is continuing to swamp communities, with homes evacuated in the state's north and west.

A total of 43 Victorian towns have now been flooded, affecting more than 1400 properties and more than 3500 people.

5200 calls for assistance have been received by emergency services in the state.

To make things worse, cases of looting have been reported.

Floodwaters from the Campaspe River are making their way into the northern Victorian town of Echuca, inundating a number of homes and cutting off roads.

Rochester and Charlton have been the hardest hit towns so far. Both towns remain cut off, so the full extent of the damage is not known.

In the town of Charlton, residents reacted with fury when looters robbed a cafe, a pharmacy and a furniture store, the Herald Sun reported.

"It appears people have been entering open empty shops looking for food," Sgt David Mark said.

Boyz Cafe owner Neville, who declined to give his surname, told the Herald Sun: "I didn't think something like this would happen in Charlton. Words fail me. It's sick, it really is."

Campaspe Shire Mayor Neil Pankhurst says the river is swelling to an expected record peak of 9.8 metres.

"It's the southern and south-western portion of the town that is being most severely impacted," he said.

He is hoping levee banks along the river will hold the floodwaters.

"The levee system is obviously being patrolled and checked and there's still some margin there at present. We believe that that will hold and do its job," he said.

For many towns the deluge comes just five months after crippling floods in the region.

Meanwhile, thousands of sandbags are being distributed to people in Horsham in the state's west as preparations are made for the worst flood in more than 100 years.

Hundreds of homes are expected to be affected when the Wimmera River peaks later today.

The towns of Donald, Culgoa and Boort were inundated yesterday, while authorities are warning that homes in the town of Quambatook will be swamped sometime today as the Avoca River continues to swell.

In other areas, authorities have issued evacuation alerts for Kerang in the north and Panmure in the south-west.

Premier Ted Baillieu says the Government is doing all it can to help flood-ravaged communities, and says the damage bill across the state continues to grow.

"I suspect that there are tens and tens of millions of dollars of damage that has been done," he said.

"I can't put a total on it now but I think it's fair to say this flood is one of the worst in Victoria's history and we need to be aware of that and respond to it. And we will."

Electricity is being returned to thousands of homes in flood-affected areas of the state.

Powercor spokesman Drew Douglas says crews will work through the night to restore power to towns near Charlton.

"We've got service now in the towns of Donald, St Arnaud and should have it back in Boort, as well as Wycheproof," he said.

"Right now it's around 3,000 or 4,000 customers that are still without power."

- RADIO AUSTRALIA