Three vehicles became stuck in floodwater on the Northern Highway between Heathcote and Tooborac after Thursday’s deluge.

State Emergency Service regional duty officer Brad Jew said all occupants managed to escape their cars and were rescued by a passer-by in a four-wheel-drive by the time crews arrived.

“They were quite lucky to have gotten out the way they did,” he said.

The water was as deep as four feet in some places, Mr Jew said, frustrating SES crews who continued to see vehicles drive through afterwards.

“It only takes 15cm of water to pick a vehicle up and take it away,” he said.

“Unfortunately the message doesn’t seem to get home and people come to grief.

“It not only puts their lives at risk, but it also puts our crews at risk when they have to rescue them.”

Heathcote copped a drenching in the afternoon, with 66mm falling in the township between 9am Wednesday and Thursday, and 89mm in Redesdale, according to the Bureau of Meteorology.

Residents in the area reported much higher rainfall totals, with some above 100mm.

The Heathcote SES unit attended 11 jobs withint the 24-hour period, with the bulk related to flash-flooding. One business in High Street called for help, followed by another seven homes.

Across the north-west of the state, Mr Jew said Heathcote was one of the hardest areas hit, behind Mildura, which saw 47 requests for assistance.

The storm passed over Bendigo early Thursday morning, with 35mm falling before 9am and little after. The local SES unit received 9 calls for help, with the biggest job at Girton Grammar.

In terms of grain harvest, Victorian Farmers Federation vice-president Brett Hosking said farmers were not expecting to see a lot of damage to the grain as a result of the storm, but it could have an impact on yields for legumes.

“It could have been a lot worse if it came in two or three weeks time,” he said.

“But it’s certainly a delay to harvest.”

He said farmers would now be on the look out for flystrike in sheep and rotten disease in stone fruit as a result of the wet conditions.

“It would be nice if the [rain] took a break for now.”