It was standing room only at the Rochester Racecourse and Recreation Reserve on Monday as more than 250 concerned Rochester residents gathered to hear from officials about the flood impacts following rain on Sunday and Monday.
At the sometimes heated meeting, residents heard that officials were predicting a peak of 114.8 mAHD to 115 mAHD in Rochester overnight Monday.
Residents concerned about the potential impacts on homes and businesses sought assurances that there were sufficient measures to prevent building damage.
According to Rochester SES member Judith Gledhill, the water level would be lower than the floods from 2011 and 2022.
“It is expected that the floodwaters will only affect 60 homes and reach 114.8m to 115m,” Mrs Gledhill said.
“The SES are also door knocking in the area where it is expected to go into dwellings.”
SES operations manager Brad Dalgleish urged residents to prepare for waters to approach their homes.
SES volunteers from Bendigo, who are part of the swift water rescue team, have been in town for several days in case the situation worsens.
An additional team from Melbourne was also en route with boats in case further assistance was needed.
A sandbagging station has been set up at Rochester Recreation Reserve with affected residents able to access 25 sandbags.
“It is best to place the sandbags around the outside of doorways, in toilets and on top of plug holes to ensure water does not enter your home,” Mr Dalgleish said.
“If you think you need to raise personal items off the ground, then I suggest you do so.”
Victoria Police Inspector Dave Bowler was at the meeting and told people not to ignore road signs.
“Police have been out since 1am this morning and are urging people not to ignore road signs indicating floodwater,” Insp Bowler said.
Rain on Sunday and Monday has caused damage to homes and businesses.
Severe rainfall has been recorded in Rochester, with the Bureau of Meteorology confirming the 125mm that fell in the 24 hours to 9am Monday was a new daily rainfall record.