Wild storm causes chaos across Geelong with SES inundated with calls for help

Some are calling it the biggest storm to hit Geelong in more than five decades, as thousands pick up the pieces after one hell of a wild night. SEE VIDEO, IMAGES

Some are calling it the biggest storm in more than five decades as thousands pick up the pieces after one hell of a wild night in Geelong.

Lightning lit up the skies for more than three hours on Sunday evening across the city, Bellarine Peninsula and the Surf Coast with wild winds and heavy rain causing chaos.

A fish and chip shop in Portarlington caught fire, Pakington St ground to a halt and more than 400 trees were felled as hundreds of people were left stranded by flash flooding.

Flood damage near GMHBA Stadium.

The Bureau of Meteorology said winds of up to 80km/h were reported at about 3am Monday.

Major damage to homes from Belmont to Lara have been reported, along with several shopfronts and businesses.

Hail lashed parts of the region at the height of the front.

It comes as Geelong and the Surf Coast prepare to sweat it out again in the coming days, with forecasts of 38C and 32C respectively for Monday and Tuesday.

More than 460 requests for assistance (RFA) were received in 24 hours in the Barwon South West region, according to an SES spokesman, with thousands left without power.

“More than 200 (calls) relating to trees down, more than 160 relating to building damage and more than 80 for flood,” he said.

The SES unit in South Barwon had 191 RFAs while Geelong (88), Corio (84) and Bellarine (58) were also kept busy.

“Volunteer SES crews will be back out today (Monday) to clear jobs and will be backed up by other SES units and local CFA brigades,” an SES spokesman said.

“Thank you for your patience as we get to you as quickly as possible.”

Lightning in Curlewis.

Flash flooding, hail and winds hit late Sunday afternoon, with residents left reeling after the violent storm ripped through the CBD as emergency services were inundated with calls over a chaotic four hour period.

Flooding and major damage was reported in Belmont, South Barwon, Armstrong Creek, Highton, Corio and Lara, with reports of roofs and chimneys being destroyed, fallen trees and flooded homes.

A tree was uprooted on Barrabool Rd in Highton.

The intensity of the storm caught many by surprise after the region sweltered through Sunday when temperatures hovered around 40C during the elite men’s cycling event for the Cadel Evans Great Ocean Road Race.

Thousands of homes lost power around 7pm, with initial expectations that it would return by 10pm dashed after updates from Powercor indicated that 2.30am would be the earliest restoration.

On Monday, a spokesman from Powercor said thousands of lightning strikes and strong winds brought down trees and damaged parts of the power network, with crews responding to more than 290 separate fault jobs.

“The hardest hit areas are in the Geelong region, with crews from Colac, Kyneton, Ardeer and Brooklyn being deployed to the region to restore power to 2,400 customers,” he said.

Powercor have restored power to almost 40,000 customers over the past 24 hours.

The company is expected to deploy a Mobile Emergency Response Vehicle (MERV) to Geelong later today to provide on-the-ground advice to community members impacted by outages.

It comes as people from across the region took to social media to relay the carnage the storm caused.

Some Highton residents were seen hurriedly sandbagging their houses in fear of more to come.

From north to south, it seemed like no suburb escaped unharmed.

More than 400 trees were felled during the storm, including this one in Highton.

Photos of flash flooding, lost roofs and uprooted trees indicated the breadth of damage.

“I haven’t heard of a storm like this in 60 years,” one Curlewis resident said.

“It just wouldn’t stop.”

An SES spokesman said the damage was “very widespread” across the region.

Flash flooding closed roads across Geelong. Source: Facebook

It’s understood the SES was stretched for manpower and called in assistance from neighbouring units.

“We will be getting to people as quickly as possible,” the spokesman said on Sunday night.

“We just ask for patience.”

BOM issued a severe thunderstorm warning at 8:20pm for Bannockburn, Geelong, Queenscliff, Lara, Werribee and Sorrento.

It lead to heavy rainfall and flash flooding.

The damage was clearly evident on Pakington St.

“Damaging winds were detected near Bannockburn, the area west of Geelong city and waters off Portarlington,” the statement said.

“These thunderstorms are moving towards the east to southeast.”

Wind and sheet lightning are forecast to affect Geelong city, waters off Point Cook and the area west of Lara by 8.50pm, and Lara, Ocean Grove and waters off Sandringham by 9.20pm.

Pakington St in Geelong during the storm.

One woman in Belmont Kmart said she and other customers were ushered out of the store when the power went out.

“There were trees blocking roads when we got outside,” she said.

“It has been full on.”

Trees down at the Bellarmine Springs retirement village.

Have you been affected? Email images to [e-mail]

Originally published as Wild storm causes chaos across Geelong with SES inundated with calls for help