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Victoria Floods: Murray River Camp Ordered To Leave

A popular tourist spot in central northern Victoria has been evacuated.
Ulupna Island in central northern Victoria has been evacuated due to flooding.
Reuters Photographer / Reuters
Ulupna Island in central northern Victoria has been evacuated due to flooding.

A popular tourist spot on the Murray River has been evacuated due to flooding as Victoria braces for the onset of extreme weather, including an intense cold front and damaging winds.

Tourists were ordered to leave Ulupna Creek, 70 km north-east of Echuca, on Saturday as floodwater from the Murray spilled over a levee, with crews sandbagging the areas near the Ulupna Island Bridge.

On Sunday, Victoria SES said Ulupna Island remained cut off due to rising water and that an evacuation order for the popular bushwalking and camping site was in place.

"Residents who have already evacuated should not return home until a Safe to Return notification is issued," the SES said. "Ulupna Island is now inaccessible."

"Take immediate precautions to protect your life and property. If you have already evacuated: do not return to your home until a Safe To Return Notification is issued."

Shepparton incident controller Michael Masters told Fairfax Media locals on the Murray River had sandbagged a 116 kilometre stretch of the river.

"There's really strong community resilience. They're working on shift work, they're well organised and we're providing them the support they need," he's quoted as saying.

"They've lived through many flood events and that knowledge is being put to good use. The CFA and the SES would find it really difficult to replicate their local knowledge."

Meanwhile, the Bureau of Meteorology expects wild weather to hit many parts of Victoria on Sunday ahead of a cold front.

It forecast the cold front to enter western Victoria this afternoon and reach the east of the state by around midnight.

"Damaging winds averaging 50 to 60 km/h with widespread peak gusts of around 100 km/h are expected to develop from the west mid-morning," it warned.

"Winds increasing to 60 to 70 km/h with peak gusts reaching 120 km/h across Southwest and Central districts during the early afternoon. Wind gusts may exceed 120 km/h in elevated and coastal areas."

Locations which may be affected include Mildura, Horsham, Warrnambool, Bendigo, Shepparton, Seymour, Maryborough, Ballarat, Geelong, Melbourne, Wodonga, Wangaratta, Traralgon and Bairnsdale, BoM said.

The warning comes after about 300 residents in the north of the state were allowed to return to their homes after officials stabilised a levee that began to leak at Wangaratta.

Around 150 properties were evacuated after the Parfitt Road levee was compromised on Friday.

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