Heavy rains and severe thunderstorms continue to wreak havoc across southern and eastern Australia, while 5,000 Victorian State Emergency Services (SES) volunteers are on standby on Wednesday preparing for an expected three-day floods. Many parts of South Australia are flooded after heavy rain overnight saw the SES receive more than 1,000 calls for help on Tuesday night, as severe storms began moving across the state. The Victorian SES also responded to more than 350 calls for help overnight. One motorist had to be rescued after their car became trapped on a flooded road. The SES said the flooding might be as severe as it was in September, when hundreds of homes were inundated. 'Flood watches and severe weather warnings are covering much of the state so we are advising motorists to avoid flooded roads and look for another route,' SES spokeswoman Jilly Charlwood told Australia Associated Press. Damaging winds gusting up to 100 km/h are forecast for northern and central parts of Victoria and also for areas above 1,200 meters over the northeast, west and south Gippsland and east Gippsland districts. Authorities also expected flash flooding to hit parts of the Melbourne area in Victoria on Wednesday afternoon and elsewhere in the state. 