Seymour has rallied together on Friday morning to start the clean-up from the floods of the past 24 hours.
Much of the town north of the rail yard was still submerged at 9am on Friday despite flood waters receding. People were doing what they could to help each other.
On Station St, some business owners were assessing the damage and beginning the clean-up, while others, like Amy Wang and her husband, had been going all night.
She owns fish and chip shop Hot Spot, and said she hadn’t stopped mopping all night, describing it as a “very scary” experience.
Little Stones Cafe owners Milan Gmawali and Kris Medson avoided significant damage, but were finding ways to help the clean-up efforts.
They opened their business’s doors early, offering free food and coffee to the emergency service workers who had spent all night on-call.
“It’s what we can do,” Mr Gmawali said.
“We were lucky enough to escape the worst of the damage. We just want to provide something for the community,” Ms Medson said.
Looking over the flooded Tallarook St, resident Carly O’Shea said the water looked a “bit out of control”.
She has lived in Seymour all her life and said this was as high as she had seen the water.
Residents gathered on the street on Friday and compared notes from Thursday night — offers of help were exchanged.
Goulburn St resident Bryan Wellard escaped the flooding himself, but had friends who were not so fortunate.
“One of my mates is in hospital and his house has gone under while he’s in hospital, so we’ve got to clean that up before he gets home, if we can,” Mr Wellard said.
“It’s what us old folks do.”
Mitchell Shire Council chief executive Brett Luxford said hundreds of houses and businesses were affected by the flooding.
“The Goulburn River saw record flood levels on Thursday night and into this morning, and is expected to reach more than eight metres, well above the record 1974 level of 7.64m,” Mr Luxford said.
“A relief centre is open at Seymour Sports and Aquatic Centre, providing toilets, showers, emergency accommodation and basic food for those who require it.
“We also have some power to help charge your devices, and free wifi.”
He thanked SES, Victoria Police, CFA and council workers who were on hand during the night to help deal with the record-breaking flood.
“On behalf of the community, I’d like to send a big thank you to everyone working tirelessly to support our community through this,” Mr Luxford said.