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National

Flood warnings for regional Victoria as Charlton residents prepare for peak

There were nine watch and acts alerts in place across regional Victoria on Sunday as authorities monitored flooding in the Loddon, Avoca, Murray and King river systems.

Another 16 advice alerts were also in place, covering much of the state.

They came as the Bureau of Meteorology forecasted more heavy rain to begin on Tuesday.

Senior duty forecaster Miriam Bradbury said western Victoria would receive up to 5 millimetres of rain on Tuesday before the bulk of the rainfall hit on Wednesday.

"Broadly speaking, we are looking at 10 to 20 millimetres north of the divide on Wednesday, generally only 5 to 15 millimetres in the south-west," she said.

"Going into Thursday, that rainfall is going to increase, broadly 20 to 50 millimetres across Victoria, with the potential for some heavier falls on and north of the divide, more likely in the north-east of the state.

"There is going to be a chance of thunderstorms on Thursday, mostly on or north of the divide across northern and central parts of Victoria, and this could push up rainfall totals locally as well."

The State Emergency Service said it had received 44 requests for help across the state in the past 24 hours, and that five of those were for flooding.

Floodwaters approach Charlton

Emergency Management Victoria said further river rises were expected along the Avoca River downstream of Charlton.

It said moderate flooding was likely to develop from Sunday afternoon at Charlton.

But residents said the 5.5-metre mark the water level was expected to reach was not enough to burst the banks.

The town's Lions Club Swap Meet and senior's flower festival were going ahead on Sunday.

Lions Club member Harry Brindley said everything was "A-OK, calm and collected".

"A bit more rain will be good for harvest," he said.

The 139th Charlton Show is also set to go ahead next weekend.

Mr Brindley said he travelled through Laanecoorie on Friday after helping the Lions Club of Carisbrook and was able to detour through Dunolly and Moliagul.

The minor flood level for the Avoca River at Charlton is 4 metres.

The gauge height hit a record 8.6 metres during the January 2011 floods, just four months after the previous major flood.

Charlton also experienced significant flooding in 2016 when gauge heights exceeded 7 metres.

Loddon and Campaspe flood risk

Emergency Management Victoria said moderate flooding continued along the Loddon River downstream of Laanecoorie Reservoir and downstream of Loddon Weir.

It said the flooding was easing downstream of Laanecoorie Reservoir and a flood peak would approach downstream of Loddon Weir overnight Sunday into Monday.

Ms Bradbury said the additional rainfall would likely mean rivers currently flooded would have their water levels maintained.

Buloke Shire Council was assessing areas in Glenloth and Jeruk on Sunday and closing roads as flooding moved downstream of Charlton.

VicTraffic is listing multiple road closures in place across several parts of central and northern Victoria.

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