A stranded driver has been rescued from floodwaters in Victoria while SES volunteers sandbag the banks of the King River and hundreds flee as authorities warn of rising flows into the night.
Standing on the tray of his submerged ute, the man was pulled to safety by SES crews about midday on Wednesday, near Myrtleford.
The rescue was another reminder that people should heed the warnings and stay clear, SES spokesman Simon Kinniburgh said.
"15 centimetres of water is all it takes for a car of any size to be swept away," Mr Kinniburgh told AAP.
There is widespread flooding in the Ovens River catchment in Victoria's northeast with more than 70mm of rain falling near Wangaratta and Myrtleford.
This week's deluge has followed an already wet start to spring.
Residents in Myrtleford were evacuated from the area on Tuesday night and those in Wangaratta were told to prepare for rising water into the night on Wednesday.
AusNet said on Wednesday 535 properties in the rural town are without power while elsewhere in the northeast, a further 800 are in the dark.
Bureau of Meteorology hydrologist Chris Leahy said the Ovens was close to peaking around Myrtleford while major flooding was also expected downstream.
"That water is going to move down towards Wangaratta today and into tomorrow so we expect major flood peaks in Wangaratta," he told AAP.
Elsewhere in the state, major flood alerts are in place for areas along the King, Kiewa, Loddon and Avoca rivers.
The Avoca is expected to peak on Wednesday night or Thursday morning at 7.3 metres, which is above major flood levels but about 30 centimetres short of the height reached during last month's flood.
Bandiana on the outskirts of Wodonga is bracing for the Kiewa River to touch the major flood mark of 3.3m sometime on Wednesday afternoon or evening, the bureau said.
The road to Falls Creek in the Victorian High Country has been closed after "numerous landslides, landslips and trees" blocked the Bogong High Plains Road between the ski village and Mount Beauty, Vic Roads said.
About 220 roads across the state are flooded.
