Victoria, Australia weather: Rain dump on the way, 100mm of rain predicted as flood waters rise

After a single day of sunshine Australia is once again set to suffer a massive rain dump from Sunday.

Another low pressure system and trough is set to hit the country and cause widespread rain and storms – threatening more devastating floods.

On Saturday morning, Kevin Willis, 71, was named as the first person to die in Victoria’s floods, which have also seen thousands of people evacuate. 

Now, another 100mm of rainfall is predicted for the eastern states of Australia in the coming days.

The weather office says rain and thunderstorms are already developing in South Australia and inland Queensland and the weather system will bring ‘much more widespread’ rainfall and ‘renewed flooding’ back to the south-east from Wednesday.

 Another low pressure system and trough is set to hit the country causing widespread rain and storms and with it more widespread flooding

Victoria’s flood disaster turned fatal on Saturday as police confirmed a body of a man was found in floodwaters in the backyard of a Rochester home. Pictured SES personnel search floodwaters at Maribyrnong, Melbourne

On Saturday morning, Kevin Willis, 71 (pictured) was named as the first person to die in Victoria’s floods, which have also seen thousands of people evacuate.

The news is particularly troublesome for Victoria with the list of towns facing evacuation orders continuing to grow as major flooding is felt across the state and is expected to last up to six weeks. 

Mr Willis, the first death from the floods, was found in the backyard of his High Street house.

 ‘It is my sad duty to have to confirm that a 71-year-old man has been found deceased in the backyard of his property in Rochester,’ Victorian Premier Daniel Andrews said at a press conference on Saturday.

‘We will stand with that family and all families affected by this but it just brings home for all of us that this is serious, this is potentially very, very dangerous…

‘Hopefully that sends a broader message of just how serious this is and that is why we are all working as hard as we possibly can to make sure people are safe.’

Another 100mm of rainfall is predicted for the eastern states of Australia in the coming days

The weather office says rain and thunderstorms are already developing in South Australia and inland Queensland and the weather system will bring ‘much more widespread’ rainfall and ‘renewed flooding’ back to the south-east from Wednesday

Victoria Police issued a statement on Saturday saying, ‘Access to the scene was difficult given the surrounding floodwater, however, emergency services have been able to extract the deceased as well as a woman who was unharmed but trapped at the address.’

The exact circumstances surrounding his death are yet to be determined. 

Hundreds of homes in Rochester were overwhelmed by the flooded Campaspe River, one of dozens of waterways to burst their banks and send northern Victorian towns underwater.

The River at reached a peak of 115.7 AHD on Friday night, which is 300mm above the previous record set in January 2011.

Mr Andrews said 466 properties have been flooded with water above the floorboards and a further 500 are currently isolated. 

He said 344 roads have also been shut due to flooding. 

More than 350 rescues had been carried out in the past 24 hours.

Dan Andrews said 466 properties have been flooded with water above the floorboards and a further 500 are currently isolated 

Mr Andrews said on Saturday 3,000 applications had already been received from Victorians for emergency payments 

Mr Andrews said on Saturday 3,000 applications had already been received from Victorians for emergency payments.

Bureau of Meteorology senior forecaster Jonathan How told Daily Mail Australia Tasmania, Victoria and NSW would only get ‘a few days of reprieve’.

He said a weather system developing ‘will start to produce showers and thunderstorms across South Australia and inland Queensland from Tuesday and then extend to the rest of the east coast from Wednesday to Saturday.’

‘This will be much more widespread,’ he warned.

‘So we will see showers all the way from central northern Queensland, down to Tasmania and particularly with this, we will see thunderstorms as well.

‘So expecting widespread falls which could produce renewed flooding for some parts of the south-east and the east.’

Mr How said heaviest rainfall is predicted for south-east Queensland and northern NSW.

He said that region will see between 50 and 100mm of rainfall though further south is still vulnerable to heavy local rainfall likely to come with thunderstorms.

Swollen rivers across Victoria are expected to bring flooding to the state for up to six weeks. Pictured, Beechworth Woolshed Falls near Wangaratta

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Hundreds of homes in Rochester were overwhelmed by the flooded Campaspe River, one of dozens of waterways to burst their banks and send northern Victorian towns underwater