Thunderstorms rolled into the Bendigo region on January 7, bringing heavy rain and flash flooding.
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Intense rain was expected into the afternoon and the morning of January 8, as storm clouds carrying between 40 - 77 millimetres of rain hit the region.
A long line of cars had snaked its way through Bendigo showgrounds by 10am on Sunday, as residents scrambled to fill sandbags at the State Emergency Services (SES) collection point.
Among them, the Cottingham family "anxiously" packed sandbags to protect their Quarry Hill garage from water before they left for an overseas holiday.
"We are nervous because we have got no control once we're gone ... and we fly out tomorrow," Ms Cottingham said.
"We are just trying to keep our head up high, but it's just stressful and we have stuff in the [garage] that just keeps getting damaged."
The SES set up sandbag collection to prepare at-risk townships across the Bendigo region, which included Heathcote, Castlemaine and Wedderburn.
Moisture 'normally [seen] in somewhere like Queensland'
Two days of heavy rain was forecast to bring up to 150 millimeters across the region, with a warning for minor to moderate flooding issued for more than a dozen catchments.
A tropical airmass moved across the state and brought moisture "normally [seen] in somewhere like Queensland", the Bureau of Meteorology said in a briefing on Saturday.
A total of 38.6 millimetres of rain had fallen at Bendigo Airport between 9am and 4.00pm on January 7.
Bureau of Meterology Senior Metereologogist, Stephanie Miles said their was more to come.
"Rain will continue at Bendigo this afternoon and into the evening," she said.
"The heaviest falls will likely ease from tomorrow morning however they will be some lingering showers/possible thunderstorms throughout the afternoon."
Owner of Daco Kitchens Greg Nadort, who was also at the showgrounds loading sandbags onto his work ute for his flood-prone business, was taking an "is what is it is" approach.
"You just never know how much you are going to get," he said.
Meanwhile, Bendigo Highway Patrol was braced for crashes as heavy rain made driving potentially treacherous.
Leading Senior Constable David Hockey said the patrol had not been busy with collisions yet, but that "yet" was a key word.
"In relation to the weather, people need to take a cautious approach and drive to the conditions. It's as simple as that," he said.
People told to keep calm by SES
North of Bendigo, Judith Gledhill at the Rochester SES asked for calm on Sunday morning, with no immediate risk of the town "going under again".
"As soon as it rains in Rochester, people think the whole town is going under again. It is not," she said.
"Properties only start to get impacted when we get to a major [water] level, not minor or moderate."
The Campaspe river, which flows through Rochester, was not expected to rise above minor to moderate levels with the day's forecast rain, Ms Gledhill said.
Meanwhile, it was understood emergency services had also received multiple calls for sandbagging help at Dunolly, about 45-minutes west of Bendigo.
Angela, a shop worker in the town's centre, said that water was running fast down the main street's gutters, but had not started to flood yet.
"Apparently the council has delivered a whole pile of sand too," she said. "And they've called out to get people to come and help fill the sandbags."
At Wedderburn on Saturday, Adam Postle said he had learned from a Christmas day deluge that is "pays to be prepared".
"Everybody got caught by surprise on Christmas," he said.
Mr Postle was part of the "real community effort" sandbagging at Wedderburn.
The Bureau had predicted more thunderstorms and between six and 25 millimetres of rain on Monday, January 8.
