Floods in Victoria's sodden northeast have been described as a one-in-100-year event, and waters may take weeks to fully subside, residents have been warned.
Victorian Premier Ted Baillieu and Deputy Premier Peter Ryan toured flood-affected towns on Sunday, seeing the impact of up to 160mm of rain dumped on the region in 24 hours following a week of heavy downpours.
Numurkah and Nathalia, north of Shepparton, are the towns the State Emergency Service now says are most under threat.
Patients were evacuated from Numurkah's hospital, while about 30 residents were relocated from an aged-care home in the town on Sunday.
About 38 soldiers joined emergency services in sandbagging ahead of the water's expected peak on Monday.
SES crews are preparing a flood barrier at Nathalia in an effort to protect properties. At least eight properties in the town were isolated on Sunday, SES spokeswoman Dimity York said.
"Flooding has exceeded 1993 levels, so this is now a one-in-100-year event," Ms York told AAP.
Technically, the term "100-year flood" means there is a one per cent chance of it happening in any given year.
Waters are starting to recede in the towns of Tallygaroopna, Tungamah and Katamatite, Ms York said.
Roads into Tungamah have reopened, allowing food supplies in.
Mr Baillieu said residents would face significant challenges in coming days as water continued to move through some towns.
"We can be comforted by the fact that for the next few days the forecast is not as daunting, but that means that everybody needs to continue to pay attention, continue to stay in touch with their neighbours and to listen to broadcasts," he said from Wangaratta.
Mr Ryan said residents had shown extraordinary resilience.
"For some of these people they are having water over the boards for the fourth time in a little over 12 months," he said.
"It is a terrible experience for them and we will continue to do everything we possibly can to support them. But their resilience in the face of this is nothing short of amazing."
More than 100,000 sandbags have been filled in the state's northeast as 800 SES volunteers fight to hold back advancing waters.
State Emergency Service regional officer John Newlands says residents in affected towns must be patient, as water would take time to clear from plains.
"It is a very slow-moving area. The water will stay around ... we could see operations going on there, not for days, but it could be a couple of weeks as the water slowly moves towards the Murray," Mr Newlands said.
Department of Human Services staff and the Red Cross are on hand to provide residents with accommodation and other emergency help.
Flood warnings remain in place in the northeast and East Gippsland, where some areas have received four times their monthly average rainfall in four days.
Bureau of Meteorology senior meteorologist Phil King says the Ovens, King, Mitta Mitta, Goulburn and Upper Murray rivers were hardest hit by the unseasonal rains.
The highest rainfall was at Mount Buffalo, where 163mm of rain fell in 24 hours.
"Much of the river systems are already in flood and this is going to bring renewed flooding," Mr King told AAP.
"In the short term we'll still see moderate to major flooding in those northeast river systems and that will take a number of days to go down.
"So the rain is easing but the flooding situation is not over."
Authorities say it is too early to estimate the damage bill from the floods, which is set to spiral into the millions of dollars.
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