The worst effects of the heaviest floods in Victoria in more than 15 years are yet to be felt with hundreds more homes expected to be inundated with water.
The rain eased on Sunday after falls of up to 200mm but the state of emergency remains, with floodwaters yet to peak.
The cost of the floods will be in the million of dollars and massive areas have been, and will be, affected with floodwaters peaking near Benalla and Wangaratta in the northeast but yet to peak in the Goulburn River in the north and Wimmera River in the west.
Hydrologists were analysing affected Victorian rivers on Sunday to see how strong downstream flows and flooding would be, State Emergency Service (SES) state controller Tim Wiebusch told reporters on Sunday.
"Our state is very wet. We are seeing flood levels that we haven't seen for many years," he said.
"There will be some impacts today, particularly around the likes of Benalla and Wangaratta and then we'll start to see some impacts in Gippsland as well.
"But then, over the next couple of days is where we start to see the flow-on impacts up the Goulburn into the likes of the bigger townships of Shepparton and Horsham out in the Wimmera."
More than 250 homes had been evacuated in the northeast by early Sunday, including in Euroa, Benalla, Myrtleford, Bright and Jamieson.
Premier John Brumby predicted there would be "hundreds more" evacuations with the Nagambie Caravan Park on the Goulburn River being evacuated on Sunday.
He said about 40,000 Victorians had been left without power, particularly in Melbourne's eastern suburbs, the Mornington Peninsula and parts of Ballarat and Creswick, west of Melbourne.
Euroa residents were mopping up after the worst of the flood threat appeared to have receded on Sunday, local business operator Annie Mahon said.
The Seven Creeks Hotel manager said the main bridge into the town was cut from about 7pm (AEST) on Saturday and residents at the local caravan park had to be relocated.
She expected some businesses, including hers, would have been affected economically - having to close during the floods.
"We haven't seen such an amount of water in a long time, so I think it's given everybody a bit of a buzz. Even though it's been a bit of a worry, the fact that there is so much water is good news," she said.
Benalla Rural City mayor Bill Hill said the waters from the Broken River peaked at 4.5 metres at about 8.45am (AEST), just a metre below the famous flood levels of 17 years ago.
He said low-lying areas of the town had been inundated, with about 50 homes evacuated late Saturday.
"The people in Benalla who needed to be evacuated have been evacuated smoothly," Mr Hill told AAP.
Severe winds lashed Victoria's west coast and Melbourne's bayside suburbs on Saturday night causing trees to fall and damaging buildings.
The SES received 625 calls on Saturday night, mostly relating to fallen trees and building damage, with wind gusts of up to 130km/h in alpine areas.
There have been no serious injuries but authorities urged people not to drive or walk through floodwater.
Mr Wiebusch said towns near the Mitchell River, Macalister River and Lake Glenmaggie in the Gippsland region in Victoria's east remained threatened by floods and could be left isolated by road closures.
Floodwaters in northeastern Victoria have overloaded the sewer system, causing raw sewage to seep into rivers.
Authorities are warning residents north of Wangaratta to boil for at least three minutes any water they use as their supply could come from the now-contaminated Ovens River.
Victoria's new emergency alert phone messaging system has been used seven times so far with flood warnings and advice sent to 51,000 Victorians.
More rain is forecast later in the week, although not as heavy, with up to 30mm expected. But it could cause extra flooding because of the weekend's events making the ground wet.
Mr Wiebusch urged people in affected areas to be on alert, listen to emergency broadcasters and monitor www.ses.vic.gov.au and 1300 842 737 (VIC SES).
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