Flash floods inundated hundreds of houses in southeastern Australia on Friday, leaving homeowners with a "nerve-wracking" wait to evaluate the damage.

Victoria, Australia's second-most populated state, issued a severe flooding emergency as swiftly rising floods prompted evacuations in the Melbourne suburb of Maribyrnong.

Cars were nearly totally submerged, and several stranded residents had to be rescued by inflatable rescue boats.

"Our home oval is underwater at the moment, the water is well over waist high," one of the locals, Leah Caluzzi, told AFP, adding, "I live in the same suburb and it's a bit scary. Luckily our house is a bit higher up, but lots of houses around the river are impacted."

Victoria's state Premier Daniel Andrews told reporters that 500 houses had been "inundated," while another 500 were encircled by floodwaters and cut off from rescue services noting "That number will definitely grow."

While the worst rain had gone by late Friday morning, the state emergency agency cautioned that the flooding will worsen as water poured downstream into overflowing river catchments.

The emergency services spokesperson, Tim Wiebusch, told the press that "There are not many parts of Victoria that aren't experiencing major flooding over the coming days."

The spokesperson also noted that approximately 4,000 homes in Shepparton, about two hours from Melbourne, could flood early next week while the emergency management commissioner Andrew Crisp said the Australian forces were deployed to assist residents to sandbag their houses. 

"This is a major emergency for the state of Victoria," Crisp said.

It has been said that as a refuge, a decommissioned Covid-19 quarantine facility with a capacity of 1,000 people would be utilized.

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