Victoria weather: hundreds call for help and dozens rescued as intense rain and storms hit southern states

Nearly 700 requests for assistance made to Victoria’s SES in 24 hours to 6am Monday as BoM forecasts more wild weather

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Hundreds of people have called for help in Victoria and 26 have had to be rescued as heavy rainfall inundates the state, with the Bureau of Meteorology warning of further flash flooding and thunderstorms in southern Australia.

The persistent rain continued to defy predictions of a dry El Niño summer, with downpours that began late Saturday and ramped up through Sunday and into Monday morning.

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