Storm warning issued for Geelong as region farewells winter with wild weather
Thousands of residents remained without power on Monday after wild weather and wind gusts of more than 100km/h battered Geelong and the Surf Coast.
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Thousands of residents were without power on Monday after destructive winds lashed Geelong and the Surf Coast, downing trees, closing schools and damaging buildings and infrastructure.
An extreme weather event hit the region about 1am on Monday, with wind gusts of more than 100km/h.
A large industrial awning at a Lara manufacturing business collapsed, and across the region trees were uprooted and snapped like twigs.
One resident said the wind was “roaring like a freight train” and another said he woke up to branches from his neighbour’s trees in his backyard.
The wind blew a trampoline from a resident’s backyard to Cox Rd in Corio while large trees were uprooted and brought down in Drysdale and Portarlington.
Breakwater recorded 3.6mm of rain overnight while 12.2mm fell in Aireys Inlet.
An SES spokesman said it had received 283 calls for assistance in the Barwon region from 6am Sunday to 6am Monday, including 213 for trees down and 60 for building damage.
Corio, Colac and the Bellarine were among the most affected areas.
In Lara, part of the roof of the Accensi manufacturing plant came down, with photographs showing twisted metal and significant damage.
It is understood no one at the business, a manufacturer of crop protection solutions, was hurt.
A spokesman from neighbouring company Rocke Brothers said the awning had already collapsed when workers arrived at 5am onMonday.
Accensi was contacted for comment but did not respond before deadline.
Emergency Management Commissioner Rick Nugent warned residents on Sunday to stay indoors and avoid unnecessary travel on Monday.
More than 5000 homes and businesses in St Albans Park, Leopold, Newcomb and Whittington were without power on Monday.
The destructive winds brought down power lines across the region, including in Leopold where wire was pictured twisted and dangling.
A Powercor spokesman said Geelong was one of the hardest hit areas in the state and warned residents more “complex” cases would take more time for power to be restored.
As of 2.30pm, 2571 customers were without power.
Powercor has deployed extra crews and cancelled planned outages to allow us to focus on restoration work.
The resource recovery centres in Geelong and Drysdale were both closed as well as the Geelong Botanic Gardens.
Powercor’s emergency response vehicle was set up at the St Albans Football and Netball clubrooms for residents to charge their devices.
The wild weather also whipped up the surf conditions, with a man rescued from the water at Jan Juc on Saturday.
Police said a 21-year-old St Leonards man was returning to shore when he began to struggle in the conditions about 1pm.
The waves pushed him to the rocks near the Jan Juc carpark, where he was winched to safety by police.
The man was not injured and officers said he was in good spirits and glad to be reunited with his mates.
A watch and act alert has been downgraded to an advice warning for severe weather in Geelong and the Surf Coast.
Hail also hit the region on Monday afternoon.
The weather is set to clear later this week, with damaging winds expected to ease and a top of 17C on Tuesday.
But weather bureau senior meteorologist Kevin Parkyn said another weather system would be moving across the state on Wednesday and a third on Friday.
He said the extreme conditions had been caused by “strong temperature contrasts” across the state.
“Victoria has had it’s warmest winter on record and second warmest August on record,” Mr Parkyn said.
The weather is expected to clear again on the weekend with a top of 18C on Saturday and Sunday.
The state’s extreme weather turned deadly after a woman was killed when a tree fell on a cabin in Moama, near the Victorian-NSW border, just before 4am on Monday.
A 77-year-old man from NSW died after a tree fell on his car in Gellibrand in the Otways during wild weather on last week.
Earlier: Storm warning issued for Geelong
A severe weather warning has been issued for Victoria’s southwest coast, as wild winds continue to batter Geelong.
The severe weather may include destructive winds from Sunday evening averaging 55 to 65 km/h and gusts of up to 130km/h possible at coastal areas from the South Australian border to the Bellarine Peninsula.
Damaging surf conditions are occurring over southwest and central coastal parts of the state between the South Australian border and Cape Otway.
Conditions may temporarily ease slightly for a period during Sunday afternoon before the largest waves arrive from late Sunday evening, peaking during Monday morning, authorities warned.
Residents are being urged to park their cars undercover, stay inside if conditions outside appears dangerous, and stay away from the surf and cliffs.
Bureau of Meteorology senior meteorologist Michael Efron said severe weather over six days would culminate in a powerful cold front on Sunday night and in to Monday, which would bring wind gusts of up to 120 km/h to Geelong about 1am Monday.
Emergency Management Commissioner Rick Nugent warned residents on Sunday: “When in doubt, don’t go out.”
An SES spokeswoman said it received 116 calls for assistance in the Barwon region between 1pm Saturday and 3pm Sunday.
Torquay, Leopold and Portland were among the most affected areas, she said.
Seventy-three calls were for trees down and 36 for building damage.
Thousands of homes hit by power outages caused by high winds.
A Powercor spokeswoman said there were two separate outages on Saturday night in the Geelong region, both caused by trees coming down on power lines.
One outage struck the Whittington and Breakwater area while the other affected the Armstrong Creek region.
Both happened just after 6pm and there were 12,000 homes and businesses affected, the spokeswoman said.
The majority of customers in Whittington had power back within 20 minutes, and most in the Armstrong Creek had their electricity restored within 50 minutes, she said.
A small number of customers were without power until midnight, she said.
She said the incidents were a “really good reminder” for people to take action to prepare for potential outages, with strong winds still raging in Geelong.
Aaron Sahr’s car was towed on Saturday night after becoming entangled in downed powerlines.
The lines were caught up in the back axle of the car at the intersection of Wilsons Rd and the Bellarine Highway in Newcomb.
The people in the car had to wait two hours in the vehicle until it was deemed safe to leave, Mr Sahr said.
A warning that damaging west to north-westerly winds averaging 50 to 65 km/h with peak gusts of around 100 km/h would hit Geelong was issued on Saturday evening.
The Bureau of Meteorology’s forecast said there was a chance of a thunderstorm on Sunday and hail and storms were possible on Monday in the Geelong and Surf Coast area.
Windy conditions are set to continue.
On Sunday wild ocean conditions continued on the Surf Coast and Bellarine, with large swells and damaging winds.
Multiple Geelong Advertiser readers reported sustaining damage to their fences.
One wrote they were “over this weather”.
“Not slept in four days. Whole house shakes,” the reader wrote on social media.
The Spirit of Tasmania did not sail from Devonport to Geelong due to forecast adverse weather conditions on Saturday night.
Earlier: Wild weather forecast for start of spring
The start of spring is forecast to be marked by a weekend of more wild winds across the Geelong region.
A severe weather warning has been issued by the Bureau of Meteorology for Friday night and Saturday.
Damaging west to north-westerly winds averaging 50 to 65 km/h with peak gusts of around 100 km/h are possible from this afternoon over the Otways.
Overnight the risk of damaging winds will extend to the area around Geelong.
A cold front is expected to hit southern parts of the state overnight and into Saturday morning.
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.
Powercor is encouraging households and businesses to prepare for the wild weather.
Head of network control Peter Galey said Powercor was monitoring the weather forecast closely.
“We will be ready to respond quickly if the power goes out and we are asking our customers to also take action to prepare,” he said.
“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.”
Geelong’s Fire Festival has been postponed due to the weather.
Originally set for Saturday night, the festival has been rescheduled to September 7 from 5pm to 10pm at Sutcliffe Reserve, Corio.
Festival organisers assured ticket holders on their social media that all previously purchased tickets would be valid for the new date.
In an emergency call triple-0.
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Originally published as Storm warning issued for Geelong as region farewells winter with wild weather
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