9 News: Thousands of homes across Victoria are now inundated or isolated by floodwater in what authorities have described as a "major emergency for the state".

Emergency Management Commissioner Andrew Crisp: This is a major emergency and we consider this a state of disaster.

Those words make me nervous coming out of Victoria. This is a state that holds all the world records for most draconian lockdowns - etc - all made possible by declaring a State of Disaster. It gives the premier dictatorial control. It's a power-trip. It's also frighteningly popular amongst Victorians, which then feeds back into the power-trip.

The Vic floods do raise questions about Australia's, especially Vic's preparedness for severe weather events.

A week ago we were posting about 1500 mil of rain in Ilan, the only noticeable impact being a round boulder hole in a car roof - this State of Disaster event in Victoria involved 150 mil spread over two days. That's the peak areas. Most places had well under 100 for two days.

Places that are used to extreme weather, such as Taiwan, may be at an advantage coz they've already got the infrastructure to cope with it - the drains, the concrete housing, the emergency response network. But when we've got places going under after 150 mil in the mountains, then that shows how worryingly exposed large parts of the world are to extreme events.