Evacuation orders in Australian state over flood emergencies

Canberra: Residents across the Australian state of Victoria received evacuation warnings on Friday due to flood emergencies.

Currently, there are more than 90 warnings issued across the state, including over 10 evacuation orders, reports xinhua news agency.

Residents in some regions along rivers or creeks are warned to avoid the flood and move to higher ground immediately.

The State Emergency Service (SES) said floodwaters are rising rapidly at the Maribyrnong River, located in the northwestern suburbs of Melbourne, as more than 60 properties have been affected due to rapidly rising water.

The Goulburn River at Murchison also continues to rise and is expected to exceed the major flood level (10.7 metres) on Friday evening, with the river level likely reaching around 12 meters on Saturday afternoon.

Meanwhile, another evacuation warning was issued for Wedderburn, as the Skinners Flat reservoir near the rural town is likely to breach.

As of Friday afternoon, SES had received over 2,679 requests for assistance over the past 24 hours, including more than 119 flood rescues since midnight.

Local power companies CitiPower and Powercor said on Thursday that there were around 3,480 customers without power across western Victoria because of major storms pushing through the state.

Much of eastern Australia has seen heavy rain and flooding over the past month.

Aside from Victoria, there were also flood warnings issued for New South Wales and Tasmania.