Seymour had a wet start to 2024 as the region experienced heavy rains that caused major flooding.
On Monday, January 8, Seymour was issued a flood warning at 10.35am after 180mm of rain was recorded nearby in the 24 hours to 9am.
The Goulburn River continued to rise until it reached a peak of 6.8m later that day.
By 11.52am, an ‘evacuate immediately’ warning for 15 streets in Seymour was issued, as flooding above floor level was expected.
People who were in Emily St, Tierney St, Lesley St, Tallarook St, Wallis St, High St, Elizabeth St, Butler St, Alexander St, Edward St, Station St, Tristan St, Hanna St, Jubilee St and Industrial Crt were told to evacuate immediately.
A relief centre was set up at the Seymour Sports and Aquatic Centre in Chittick Park.
Yea saw the biggest flood it has had in decades, with a one-in-100-year flood recorded.
At 12.40pm, Yea was issued an evacuation warning for those in Mulqueeny Lane, Clarence Way, Newberry Chase, Buckland Crt, Miller St, Loan St, Whatton Place and Court St.
VicEmergency advised the people affected to evacuate to the relief centre at the Yea Shire Hall in High St, Yea, at 2pm.
A major flood warning was issued for areas near Yea River at 3.20pm as the Goulburn River in Seymour reached 6.7m.
By 4pm, it was too late to evacuate the parts of Yea that were put under an evacuation warning.
The flood had already impacted Miller St, Loan St, Whatton Place and Court St.
Six homes in the town were flooded.
Meanwhile, VicEmergency held a press conference to update the public at 5pm as the situation worsened in Seymour and Rochester.
Officials said river levels were expected to peak significantly lower than the 2022 floods.
At 6pm, the ‘evacuate immediately’ warning for Seymour expanded.
The Goulburn River in Seymour peaked at 6.8m and started to fall by 7pm.
Seymour stayed at the moderate flood level after the river reached its peak.
Shepparton Incident Control Centre incident controller Ray Jasper said authorities were “quietly confident” that eight to 10 houses that had been flooded in the October 2022 flood and had not been fixed up and were not being lived in, also flooded in Seymour.
It’s still sad for these houses to be flooded again,” he said.
Some streets in the town also remained flooded this morning.
Forty-three people also spent the night in the Seymour Relief Centre, with another 12 caravans also parked up with occupants in them at the relief centre.
Three caravan parks and four motels in Seymour were cleared yesterday because they were in the flooded area.
According to Victoria SES chief operations officer Tim Wiebusch, four unoccupied houses were flooded, and three cabins in a caravan park had above floor flooding.
Four residential properties had under floor flood, but did not come inside.
Meanwhile, seven businesses were impacted by the flood.
Mr Jasper said the evacuation order would be lifted in the town when the river dropped to 5m, and at that time, the relief centre would also close.
A second peak of 6.2m is expected at Seymour on Tuesday, January 9, lower that Monday’s peak of 6.8m.