Video | Australia floods: Victoria town residents advised to flee

Officials said Kerang residents should pack three days of supplies and leave before the waters of the swollen Lodden River rose further, an official alert urged.

"You should ensure you have left your property immediately," the SES said in text message alerts sent about 0520 on Wednesday to the town's 2,500 residents.

"We have enough resources and enough high ground for people to still operate within Kerang, but if it becomes totally inundated there will be very few people left in town," Mayor Max Fehring told Sky News.

The alert comes in the wake of increased floods through parts of the state of Victoria, and the death of a boy near Horsham. Further north, floods have killed more than 30 people and caused widespread losses in the state of Queensland.

The evacuation warning was issued after the State Emergency Service estimated that homes would be flooded by the Lodden River overflow. As levees intended to hold back the waters were breached, officials warned the town could be isolated for five days.

Power cuts are in force across the state as electricity stations have been submerged. At least 58 towns across Victoria have now been hit by floods and 22 relief centres are in operation.

Also, more than 7,000 lightning strikes were recorded, while falling trees damaged homes and created new fears in an area already badly hit by the recent weeks of flooding.

Residents there have been warned that more heavy weather is to come.

Prime Minister Julia Gillard is to form a panel of corporate leaders to help rebuild devastated infrastructure and analyse what is said to be Australia's most expensive natural disaster.