Melbourne’s Olympic Park measuring station recorded 47.8mm of rain from 9am on Thursday as storms triggered flash flooding, six water rescues and more than 200 calls for help to the State Emergency Service. The daily total marked the city’s highest since April 2024. The report offers no estimate of property damage, financial losses or emergency-response costs.
Rainfall and rescues
Up to 25mm fell in an hour on Thursday afternoon. Storms and flash flooding also hit other parts of Victoria, while parts of Melbourne flooded as the weather system passed through.
The State Emergency Service received more than 200 calls for help. Six involved water rescues. The report doesn't identify the people rescued or specify where the rescues took place; it records only the number and the agency that received the calls.
At about 3pm, darkness plunged over the city as the weather system moved through. The report doesn't specify what caused the darkness or how many people or properties it affected. Nor does it describe any effects on workers, workplaces or businesses.
Warnings remain in place
David Crock, a senior meteorologist with the Bureau of Meteorology, said Melbourne’s rainfall total marked the highest daily figure since April 2024. “There is much more to come,” he said.
Rain was expected to continue across Victoria on Friday and Saturday. A flood watch remained current for catchments across much of central and eastern parts of the state, as further rain was forecast.
The forecast said conditions would ease on Sunday as the low-pressure system moved offshore. Easing weather was expected to arrive from the west. The report gives no rainfall totals for Friday or Saturday, and no projected flood level or location.
The figure comes from the Melbourne (Olympic Park) measuring station, not a citywide average. The account names the station, measurement and period—from 9am on Thursday—and separately reports that some parts of Melbourne received as much as 25mm in an hour.
What the report records—and leaves out
The documented emergency response includes more than 200 calls to the State Emergency Service and six water rescues. The account says nothing about who owns affected property, who will pay repair costs or whether workers faced lost income. It reports no government relief proposal, insurance estimate, or response from unions or community organizations.
The available account leaves the economic consequences unmeasured. The figures establish the rainfall, emergency calls and rescues; they don't establish the scale of material damage or how its costs will be distributed. The forecast keeps the immediate risk in view: rain was expected to continue Friday and Saturday, with a flood watch current across much of central and eastern Victoria, before conditions were expected to ease Sunday.