A feeling of togetherness with a hint of fear was on display at Archer St, Shepparton, on Sunday morning, with residents preparing for further flood water rises.
With the road closed off just beyond the Archer St Shopping Centre, many residents were bracing for impact.
For 83-year-old Robert Pate, the floods reminded him of those in 1974.
The former builder, who was on Archer St assisting a friend prepare his home, recalled the last floods as being “devastating”.
He said it was “great” to see so many people helping others, whether it was filling sandbags or moving furniture.
“You find out who your friends are,” Mr Pate joked.
“People are good, generally people are only to willing to help each other and that’s the way it should be.”
Like Mr Pate, Rex and Kay Manks were anxiously watching water rise, however with their house slightly raised up, they were hoping to remain dry.
“It’s still got to come up a fair way to get into our joint,” Mr Manks said.
“You can’t stop it so you’ve just got to live with it I suppose.”
Living on a farm in Tallygaroopna when the 1993 floods hit, they have previous experience dealing with a similar situation, however the speed the water was rising still had them surprised.
“It’s pretty scary in one way but what do you do?” Mrs Manks said.
“You can’t stop it.”
“We were at Sheehan Cres and I couldn’t believe how much water is down there,” Mr Manks said.
“We’re just watching, keeping an eye on it and hopefully we’ll be all right.”