Geelong and surrounds in for more wild weather after winds wreaked havoc across region

Wednesday’s wind storm tore off roofs, downed trees and cut power. Authorities have warned more dangerous conditions could be on the way Thursday night and Friday.

An State Emergency Services (SES) spokesman said in the Barwon region alone nine SES units had received 30 call outs between 2pm on Tuesday and 7.30am Wednesday morning. Photo: Brad Fleet

A severe weather warning has been issued for the Greater Geelong area and Otway ranges as more wild winds are expected to hit the state on Thursday night and Friday.

Damaging 50 to 60 km/h west to north-westerly winds are likely across exposed coasts and the Otway ranges on Thursday evening and early on Friday.

Peak gusts will reach up to 100km/h.

The wild weather is expected to ease after sunrise before damaging wind gusts of up to 90km/h are possible during rain on Friday afternoon and late on Friday night more wind gusts are expected to develop across the southern parts of Victoria.

Residents have been advised to stay informed and be aware of potential hazards, such as trees down, debris, damaged buildings, vehicles and fallen power lines.

People are also advised to park cars undercover and away from trees and to stay indoors if conditions appear dangerous. You should also contact family, friends and neighbours to ensure they are aware of the situation, and take precautions when driving.

In an emergency call triple-zero.

Earlier

Power was restored to a small Great Ocean Road town left in the dark by destructive winds that caused havoc across wider Geelong.

More than 5000 households in the Apollo Bay region had electricity cut for much of Wednesday night, with Geelong Powercor crews rushing two emergency generators to the coastal town.

Wild weather and winds of more than 100 km/h lashed the area, bringing down trees over power lines supplying the town of more than 1700 residents.

Emergency generators helped supply power to critical infrastructure in Apollo Bay due to a blackout. Photo: Supplied.

A Powercor spokesman said two 1250 KVA HV generators supplied power to critical infrastructure in the area during the blackout.

“While power was restored to Apollo Bay last night, the generators will be on standby and available if further outages occur over coming days,” he said.

Apollo Bay locals showed their appreciation to technicians when the lights came back on.

Tracey Harbour said she was “quite enjoying reading by candlelight by the fire” during the outage but commended “the wonderful crews out there, fixing the lines.”

“Well done Powercor team on a miserable night,” another, Christine Marriner, said.

Dangerous surf conditions and abnormally high tides are again predicted for Saturday near Apollo Bay and along the South Westcoast.

It comes as the Geelong and the Surf Coast were battered by winds of up to 110km/h yesterday.

The Bureau of Meteorology (BOM) issued both a severe weather warning and a coastal hazard warning on Wednesday due to damaging winds, dangerous surf conditions and abnormally high tides.

Altona man Ano Iosifidis’s roof came off his Indented Head holiday home on the Bellarine Peninsula.

Ano Iosifidis's mother-in-law slept through as last night's winds blew the roof of the family's holiday house off. Picture: Alan Barber

His elderly mother-in-law, in her 80s, slept inside the house through the entire ordeal.

“The wind picked (the roof) up like a magic carpet and threw it up across the road,” he said.

“She was sleeping all the way through.”

“She’s a bit alarmed that she didn’t hear anything, but life’s a box of chocolates and you don’t know what you’re going to get.”

Mr Iosifidis said the roof hit the power lines and the two houses across the street lost power.

EARLIER: Damaging winds are expected to continue averaging 60 to 70 km/h in the Greater Geelong and surf coast regions on Wednesday, with possible peak gusts of around 110 km/h across the warning area.

Risk of sea water flooding is also expected, with people warned to stay well away from the surf and surf exposed areas.

The highest risk period is expected during the afternoon or with approaching showers.

A State Emergency Services (SES) spokesman said in the Barwon region alone nine SES units had received 61 call outs between 2pm on Tuesday and 11.30am Wednesday morning.

Of those, he said nine were for reports of housing damage and the rest related to tree damage.

He said South Barwon had been the busiest unit since 7.30am, with seven requests in that patch.

The spokesman said the call outs were largely due to wind damage, with no reports of flooding in the Barwon area.

Damage from the storm at Caudry Crescent in Highton.

Powercor head of network control Peter Galey households and businesses were being reminded to make preparing for power outages part of their emergency plan.

Mr Galey said Powercor was monitoring the weather closely and had increased the number of field crews, network operators and customer specialists ahead of the extreme wind.

“Beware of fallen powerlines and always assume they are live,” he said.

“If you do find a fallen line, stay at least 10 metres away from them and contact us immediately on 13 24 12.”

“It’s important to have a plan and know what you would do if the power does go out – charge your phones, laptops and other devices, know how to open your garage door manually, and know where to turn for information.”

“Make sure you are ready to enact your backup plan if you rely on life support equipment or need electrical items to care for others and have water available if your supply relies on power.”

Originally published as Geelong and surrounds in for more wild weather after winds wreaked havoc across region