Displacement and disbelief in flood-hit Rochester as residents survey the damage

The SES controller for Rochester says ‘every single house’ in the town, population 3,113, has had some level of flooding. Photograph: Mike Bowers/The Guardian

Lynda Kellow has lived by the Campaspe River in north-east Victoria her entire life. She’s seen floods but nothing like the devastation that tore through Rochester at the weekend.

“It’s horrendous,” she says. “If anyone says this isn’t a natural disaster here, they’re crazy. They need to get their feet on the ground and have a damn good look.”