The 22 council areas waiving tip fees listed

Victorians still without power seven days after Tuesday’s storms will receive government payments for alternative accommodation, as many councils waive tip fees and generators are distributed.

Victorians still without power seven days after Tuesday’s storms will receive government payments for alternative accommodation and to buy necessities, as councils waive tip fees for rubbish dumping and generators are distributed.

“Prolonged power outage” payments will only go to those Victorian homes and small businesses without power a full week after Tuesday’s devastating storms, however.

The government handouts are $1920 per week for a household and $2927 per week for a business.

More than 25,000 Victorian households and businesses are still without electricity, days after wild storms caused the state’s largest power station to suffer a complete outage.

Of the 25,931 AusNet customers still without power as of 3pm Friday, 12,939 were in the central region, 12,845 in the east and 79 in the north.

The most affected suburbs are Emerald, Cockatoo, Yarram and Metung.

Announcing the “prolonged power outage” measures in Mirboo North on Friday, Premier Jacinta Allan said the government payments would be administered by distribution businesses, and were aimed at helping families buy necessities and find alternative accommodation “to get through”.

Extensive damage to the state’s electricity network left 500,000 Victorians without power, at its peak earlier this week.

Wild weather brought down powerline towers at Anakie. Picture: Alison Wynd

Downed transmission towers.

About 90 per cent of those customers were reconnected within 48 hours but thousands still remain without power.

To ensure residents had access to electricity, generators were also being prepared for distribution, with priority going to the most vulnerable Victorians, Ms Allan said.

In addition, from Saturday the waste levy for storm affected Victorians across 21 municipalities would be waived until April 30, she said.

Residents in these council areas will be able dispose of “disaster waste” at their local tips for free.

Victorian Environment Minister Steve Dimopoulos said there was a big task ahead to clean up storm damaged areas across the state.

“We’re helping get that recovery underway by waiving fees for storm waste disposal at local tips in the most heavily impacted areas,” he said.

Other council areas may be added to the free tip list.

Ms Allan said Tuesday’s “catastrophic weather event” had a devastating impact on many Victorian communities.

“We’re making sure Victorians who need help are getting it as quickly as possible,” she said.

Energy and Resources Minister Lily D’Ambrosio said the extra generators and support payments would aid financially and assist people get back on their feet.

An Essential Services Commission spokesperson told the Herald Sun said that in addition, to the government payments, Victorian energy customers affected by recent outages could be eligible for payments from energy distributors under the commission’s Guaranteed Service Level (GSL) payment scheme.

SES crews clean up storm damage in Melbourne. Picture: AFP

“Our scheme provides payments to recognise general poor service from distributors over the course of a year, including long or repeated outages, similar to those outages experienced over the last week,” she said.

“Payments will differ by customer, depending on the nature and specific cause of the outage. Payments range from $90 to $380, depending on circumstances. We encourage affected customers to also contact insurance providers to inquire of other claims, and their distributor if they are eligible for further claims outside of those covered by our GSL scheme and the Victorian Government’s relief package.”

44 Pomonal homes lost to fire

It comes as it’s revealed 44 Pomonal homes have been lost to fire.

Premier Jacinta Allan on Friday morning said the number of destroyed properties was “higher than has previously been reported”.

She said while the small Grampians town had suffered “devastating loss”, locals were showing great resilience.

“This is a community that before the emergency hit their town they had a community recovery plan in place which speaks to the remarkable strength in regional communities,” Ms Allan said.

44 properties have been lost to fire in Pomonal. Picture: Jason Edwards

Picture: Jason Edwards

Picture: Jason Edwards

Vic Emergency on Friday said a commercial property was among those destroyed in Pomonal and a small number were not primary residences.

Local MP Emma Kealy said the bushfires had caused a “significant loss of stock, fence lines and sheds”.

“Roads remain closed and could be closed for some time. Trees along roadsides are actively burning in the Pomonal area which present a risk to entry. This has been incredibly difficult for many Pomonal residents who don’t know if their home remains standing or not,” she posted to social media.

“It will be a massive clean-up,” she said.