More than 140 people sought refuge at Seymour’s evacuation centre following record-breaking floods, in which an estimated 300 homes were damaged by floodwater.
Residents were left uncertain about when they would be able to return to their homes, or what they would find when they did.
Mick Fulton, a former Seymour business owner, said in the 1974 floods the water came up to his front door but did not make it inside. This time it did.
“We were all trying to work out when to move and we all just decided at the same time it was go time,” Mr Fulton said.
“I was lucky to get my caravan out — it was the first thing I moved.
“I don’t know when we’re going back.”
He and his wife Donna were in good spirits.
Rebecca Smale, who lives on Wallis St, was concerned about the sentimental items she might have lost.
“Everything that meant anything to me I put up and I was lucky to get here,” Ms Smale said.
Another Seymour resident, Lynne Speechley, had left her house about 8pm on Thursday.
“We’ll just have to wait and see now because we can’t get there and access it,” she said.
“It’s a bit of a shock, a little bit devastating.”
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