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Woman's body found trapped in car in Victoria's floodwaters

A woman has become the second victim of the severe flooding in Victoria after her body was found on Friday morning.

Victoria Police say the body was found inside a vehicle by Search and Rescue officers in floodwaters off Maddens Bridge Road in Glenfyne, east of Warrnambool, about 10.40am.

Victoria has been pummelled by heavy rain this week. Source: AAP
Victoria has been pummelled by heavy rain this week. Source: AAP

The woman is believed to be a 20-year-old woman missing from Simpson on Wednesday, however the body has yet to be formally identified.

The missing woman, identified as Nina, left her home about 8.20am on Wednesday and was expected to arrive at her workplace in Glenfyne about 30 minutes later.

A report will be prepared for the coroner, but the death is not being treated as suspicious.

On Thursday a man died in Woodside, in the state's southeast, during the adverse weather conditions.

Flood warnings continue

The second death comes as the state faces a mammoth recovery from the storms, while a flood evacuation warnings are still being issued.

One warning has been re-issued for Traralgon in Victoria's Gippsland region.

Anyone near the Traralgon Creek was being told early on Friday afternoon to evacuate now.

"The challenge for our community in Traralgon is while the river has receded and the Princes Highway has reopened, we are expecting to see another 80-100mm of rain over the Traralgon catchment later today and throughout the night," said SES chief officer operations Tim Wiebusch.

"The advice we have is that will result in renewed major flooding."

A previous flood warning for Traralgon Creek had been downgraded.

Mr Tim Wiebusch said there were also major flood warnings for the Yarra and Thompson Rivers, plus three moderate and eight minor warnings.

The weather front that has brought cold temperatures to much of the eastern seaboard hit Victoria on Wednesday night.

SES Victoria has had more than 7400 requests for help, with about 5800 related to fallen trees.

About 2500 of those requests are yet to be cleared.

Mr Wiebusch said as of Friday afternoon, more than 120,000 homes were still without power and 100 roads remain closed, including parts of the Mt Dandenong Tourist Rd and the Maroondah Highway near Melbourne.

A strong wind warning was also issued on Friday for Gippsland Lakes and the eastern and central Gippsland coasts.

"We know it is not over yet," Acting Premier Mr Merlino said.

"It was quite extraordinary leaving home and driving through the Dandenongs to work this morning, having a few different routes to go through to get off the mountain - massive trees across homes, across the roads.".

Those already in a safe place in Gippsland are urged to stay put for the next 24 to 48 hours when most of the flooding is expected to move through.

Authorities are pleading with locals not to drive through floodwaters.

Two SES members were taken to hospital with non-life-threatening injuries after separate tree-related incidents.

With AAP

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