The bushfires near Ensay and Tambo Crossing have joined at the southern end and remain very active with extreme fire behaviour, authorities warn.
An emergency warning has been issued for Brookville, Dogtown, Double Bridges, Ensay, Holstons, Nunniong, Reedy Flat, Stirling, Tambo Crossing, Timbarra, and Wattle Circle.
Another emergency warning has also been issued further east at the Wingan River fire, which has burnt through more than 27,000 hectares.
The Princes Highway has been closed between Cann River and Genoa because of the fire threat, so is Great Alpine Road between Bruthen and Ensay.
That section of Great Alpine Road is expected to be closed for up to 14 days.
The Princes Highway was temporarily closed overnight after a new fire, started from lightning, was punching a column 14 kilometres in the air creating its own weather, Victoria Commissioner Andrew Crisp said on Monday.
"This is a high-risk day for Victoria, it is a day we don't often see," Mr Crisp told ABC TV.
"The state is dry and it is going to be very hot and windy. People, get out now. If you don't, you have got to stay across the conditions and listen to the warnings during the day."
An evacuation order issued on Sunday, telling about 30,000 tourists at Lakes Entrance and thousands of residents in the area to leave, remains in place.
It's not known how many people have gone, but people can still get out by 9am, Mr Crisp said.
Yet East Gippsland Shire Council mayor John White told ABC radio it wasn't a "mass exodus".
"I have been driving the Princes Highway early this morning and I have met a few boats and trucks but very light traffic really. The same thing yesterday," he said.
Lakes Entrance Recreation and Camping Reserve caretaker Darren Martin said the message to leave hadn't quite stuck with holiday-makers.
"All of the people in our caravan park have been coming back and forth for years and seem to think they would bunker down and just hope for the best," he told 3AW.
"There's really only one way in and out of Lakes Entrance."
Emergency Services Minister Lisa Neville said the fires in Gippsland were forecast to continue to spread towards the coast, affecting townships and she urged people to leave early.
Temperatures are set to soar into the 40s across Victoria on Monday, with a total fire ban in place across the state and extreme fire danger ratings in most regions.
The Bureau of Meteorology expects strong and gusty winds throughout Monday, as well as thunderstorms that will give way to much cooler air across Victoria later in the day.
More than 70 helicopters and planes will be working on Monday if conditions allow.
The conditions forced organisers of the Falls Festival on Victoria's west coast to cancel the event, with 9000 punters leaving.
Ambulance Victoria said two children and a woman in her 70s were taken to hospitals after being locked in cars on Sunday and reminded people to never leave pets or people in cars.
