The State Emergency Service (SES) on Saturday are evacuating homes in and around Ballarat of state Victoria, as heavy rain falls across the Australia’s state.

Floodwater has covered many major roads in central and north- eastern Victoria, including several places along the Hume Highway.

Bureau of Meteorology forecaster Dean Stewart said the heaviest rainfall was in the state’s northwest and the highest downpour reported was 58mm in Charnwood, in the Strathbogie Ranges.

The Bureau of Meteorology said Ballarat received 47 millimeters of rain before 9:00 a.m. on Saturday.

Flood warnings remain current for much of the Victori state.

The weather bureau has warned that approaching storms could be the most significant weather event in Victoria for the past 15 years.

Friday night the bureau said a low-pressure system could bring rainfalls of up to 150 millimeters across the north-west, north and north-east overnight and on Saturday, and could cause flooding problems for months.

Meanwhile, Bureau of Meteorology forecaster Dean Stewart said another factor contributing to the flood alert was milder temperatures in the alps.

“The rain that’s falling on the snow up there is relatively warm for this time of year so it will have an affect of melting a fair bit of the snow,” he told The Australians newspaper.