By Cassandra Morgan
Tens of thousands of Victorians are still without power and some face more days in the dark as emergency crews stand by for further wild winds later this week.
The State Emergency Service has fielded more than 5100 calls for help since Sunday night, with about 3600 of those for fallen trees and 1400 for building damage.
At 5pm on Tuesday, 224 requests for assistance were still active.
The biggest clean-up facing volunteers is at Frankston in Melbourne’s south-east, from where more than 290 calls were made to the SES, which has prompting warnings about delays in meeting residents’ needs.
The aftermath of strong winds was visible on the nearby Mornington Peninsula on Tuesday, with beach boxes at Mornington’s Mills Beach severely damaged.
Across Victoria, about 30,000 properties were still without power on Tuesday afternoon.
Damaged beach boxes at Mills Beach in Mornington on Tuesday.
AusNet, which had about 28,000 customers without power at 5pm, estimated that power would not be restored for some people until Wednesday evening, including in parts of the Yarra Ranges.
Gippsland had more than 22,000 people without power on Tuesday afternoon, with the Baw Baw Shire, South Gippsland and the Latrobe Valley the worst-affected areas on AusNet’s grid.
The energy company has restored power to about 150,000 customers since Sunday while contending with downed power lines, and fallen trees damaging switches and power poles.
AusNet said it had 500 people working on restoring power on Tuesday and that helicopters were assisting ground crews with inspections.
“We anticipate some customers will remain without power, potentially for the next couple of days,” an AusNet spokesperson said.
The Bureau of Meteorology was warning more severe weather warnings were likely to be issued again on Friday, with strong winds expected.
Meteorologist Miriam Bradbury said a cold front was due to come through the state from Thursday into Friday, bringing showers.
“We may see the return of some severe weather warnings for damaging winds. The exact areas are yet to be determined, it will depend on exactly how this system develops as it crosses the country, but most likely elevated parts of [the state] and parts of the south of Victoria would be most at risk,” Bradbury said.
“This frontal system doesn’t look anywhere near as strong as what we’ve seen over the weekend … so while damaging winds will be a risk in some parts … it’s unlikely to be as widespread and intense as what we’ve seen over the past couple of days.”
Breezy conditions were expected over the coming weekend in the state’s south, Bradbury said. She noted meteorologists would keep a close eye on the system in case anything changed.
SES state duty officer Shane McBride said the emergency service had received more than 8000 calls for help in the past week, and had recruited 29 volunteers from the NSW SES to help manage the workload.
The service had put 145 of its 150 Victorian units into action the past few days.
“[Volunteers have] been going now for over a week and they are getting tired, but they are working as hard as they can, as quick as they can, and as safe as they can,” McBride said.
Winds of up to 40km/h are forecast for Melbourne on Friday, while up to six millimetres of rain are also predicted.
Winds of up to 40km/h are expected at Geelong between Wednesday and Friday.
A 63-year-old woman from Inverleigh, near Geelong, was killed by a falling tree that crushed a holiday park cabin in Moama, on the Victoria-NSW border, on Monday morning.
Her husband, also 63, was injured and later discharged from Echuca hospital.
Our Breaking News Alert will notify you of significant breaking news when it happens. Get it here.