Thousands of Victorians still without tap water following contamination risk

Hundreds of thousands of Melburnians are still being advised to boil tap water following a contamination scare.

Emergency tankers are boosting supplies, but supermarket stocks are still wiped out after a severe storm event last night.

Authorities are urging people in 101 suburbs across Melbourne's north and east to boil their tap water in case of any possible contamination of the water supply.

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Victorian Premier Daniel Andrews today advised residents to undertake "a rolling boil" of the water before drinking, washing or preparing food.

However, with many people are unable to boil water, with 10,000 homes still without power.

At Pine Hill Caravan Park in Lilydale more than 100 permanent residents and staff are affected.

"We've got a little butane gas burner that we're sharing with some of the other staff who live on site," Janette Wescombe told 9News.

"There's a lot of anguish and anxiety."

Bottle water supplies remain depleted in many supermarkets. There are also reports of profiteering and hoarding.

There is also confusion over when power will be restored.

"Now they are saying September 2," Emerald mum-of-two Vanessa Kewish told 9News.

"So that's a long time to be without power."

Ms Kewish made a snap decision today to buy a generator.

"Spending $3000 in the middle of a pandemic and then the cost of an electrician on top of that is not ideal," she said.

Gembrook MP Brad Battin likened the conditions facing many in Victoria to those in the third world.

"We'll be far from the most liveable, we'll be closer to a third world nation unless these issues are fixed," Mr Battin said.

South East Water's Lara Olsen has asked customers to continue boiling water until they are contacted by a representative.

Pat McCafferty from Yarra Valley today reassured people that boiling water is a "perfectly safe option".

"There were some suburbs that didn't have power and I certainly understand the need for those people to get bottled water. We are providing people with bottled water if they don't have power and can't boil their water they can contact us and there are water tankers out in suburbs as well," Mr McCafferty said.

The storm also resulted in three deaths, including a four-year-old boy, in the disastrous storm overnight, with a mass clean-up still underway.

The SES received close to 2000 calls for help, most of those being in Melbourne's east and south-east, and 95,000 residents lost power.