Australia news live: emergency warning as Maribyrnong river rises; thousands under evacuation orders in Victoria and Tasmania

Thousands of people in Victoria, New South Wales and Tasmania are under evacuation orders following a significant rain event over the last two days.

The residents of a suburb in western Melbourne and six Victorian towns have been told to leave their homes and move to higher ground.

Victorian emergency management commissioner Andrew Crisp said emergency services had conducted 120 flood rescues as of 7am, “and it seems to be going up by the minute”.

At this point in time, importantly, we don’t have any missing persons out there, no reports of fatalities or serious injuries. However, I just want to make this point – there’s been 120 rescues and it seems to be going up by the minute. Each of these rescues is taking our emergency services workers away from what they should be doing to support the more vulnerable in our community.

An emergency warning was issued for the Maribyrnong River at Maribyrnong at 5.40am, with flood waters rapidly rising and expected to impact about 30 homes and units, with another 30 on high alert.

At midnight, people living and camping near Wedderburn were urged to evacuate due to a dam fault at Skinners Flat Reservoir, which emergency services said would send strong, fast-moving waters along the Calder Highway through the township.

Crisp said there was currently no risk to the community from that dam fault, with engineers currently assessing it.

Victorian communities remain on high alert for dangerous flooding, with residents in six towns urged to leave homes and get to higher ground.

Evacuation orders are in place for Rochester along the Campaspe River, Carisbrook near Maryborough, and Benalla on the Broken River.

An evacuation order was issued for Seymour on the Goulburn River last night. As of this morning, residents in the lowest lying areas have been told it is too late to leave and to take shelter “in the highest location possible”. The floods in Seymour are expected to be the worst seen since 1974. There was potential for 187 properties to be inundated and a further 279 to be isolated, he told reporters.

Authorities expected up to 700 properties in Rochester to be isolated by Friday and Shepparton to experience its worst flood in almost three decades on Saturday afternoon, with up to 600 properties isolated.

The bureau warned of damaging winds over elevated areas in the state’s central and eastern parts but they were expected to clear eastwards on Thursday evening.

It comes as rain is just starting to tail off in Tasmania, after parts of the state received more than 400mm in the past two days.

Emergency services in that state say the flood risk is only just beginning.

The flood waters in north-east Tasmania have affected areas impacted by the devastating 2016 floods. Emergency services said they conducted two major flood rescues overnight – a family of six, who were isolated at their home, and a man and a woman who were stuck after trying to drive through flood waters in their 4WD.

Let’s crack on. You can reach me at @callapilla on twitter or at calla.wahlquist@theguardian.com

If you’re in a flood-affected area please stay safe – and if you’re able, drop us a line to let us know how you’re going.