Residents in the northern Victorian town of Rochester are on alert as floodwaters peaking this morning.
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TVTranscript
00:00 We're very much still in flood emergency.
00:04 The flood is really reaching its peak at the moment, the Campaspe River.
00:09 We're at a major flood level here in Rochester, but it's about a metre under right now, those
00:15 damaging October 2022 floods.
00:18 The best way to show you what's going on really is to show you.
00:21 So I'll just get my cameraman to move the camera left.
00:24 You can see there is water in the streets.
00:27 To the left of your screen is where the Campaspe River is.
00:31 Water is now really in the yards of properties up here.
00:34 We're on the east side of town.
00:37 There are around 35 properties in town which the SES has identified as being at risk of
00:44 first floor flooding.
00:46 But at this stage they haven't received any reports of first floor flooding, and neither
00:50 have we at the ABC.
00:51 But just moving the camera around, we are really surrounded by water here on High Street.
00:55 This shows you the extent of which the water is seeping into the town.
00:59 And on the other side it's quite a similar situation where some of the main shops are.
01:04 This is off the back of record rainfall, as you've mentioned, upstream around Bendigo
01:08 and places like Heathcote.
01:10 Heathcote received three months of rain in just a 24-hour period.
01:17 This has now been moving downstream the Campaspe River, and from here we'll be heading towards
01:22 places like Etchuka and ultimately in the Murray.
01:25 So there is some relief that this hasn't reached those damaging levels of October 2022, but
01:31 there is anxiety here.
01:32 Our hearts break for those homes that have gone under.
01:37 But unlike '22 when 900 homes went under in Rochester, we all had our own issues.
01:44 We couldn't rally around those that were affected.
01:48 100% of the town was affected because if you weren't flooded you were out helping others
01:54 do so.
01:55 So we will get behind those people that have been impacted this time and certainly get
02:04 things happening for them.
02:05 From 2022 the river, this water level, was a metre higher.
02:09 So up to my waist all of these properties were underwater.
02:13 It was an incredibly damaging flood.
02:15 And what is really bringing this home for the people here is that many of them are still
02:19 recovering.
02:21 They have not moved back into their homes.
02:23 They're still going through their insurance claims.
02:26 And the sight of water in the streets just 15 months after the town's record flood is
02:31 incredibly confronting and is bringing back a lot of anxiety from that time.
02:36 [BLANK_AUDIO]