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Relief rolls in as hot and humid summer spell for Victoria continues

MELBOURNE’S evening storms have hit in the west, dropping the temperature and easing today’s steamy conditions. And it couldn’t come fast enough for thousands of Victorians still without power, an issue Daniel Andrews says isn’t the state government’s fault.

Genevieve Alison, Sophie Smith and Monique Hore
6 min read
January 29, 2018 - 7:10PM
Sunday Herald Sun
Thousands without power in heatwave

AN expansive storm front has hit Melbourne’s western suburbs late this afternoon and is forecast to reach the CBD about 6pm.

“We are expecting some quite heavy rain with those storms,” Bureau of Meteorology senior forecaster Michael Efron said.

“We’ve seen falls of 25mm up in the Macedon Ranges and that fell in about an hour. [It’s] very tropical across the state.”

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The SES has received a small number of calls for isolated flash flooding incidents in Maryborough, Hoppers Crossing and Bacchus Marsh, with people reporting roof leakages.

Ten to 20mm of rain is tipped to saturate Melbourne overnight and while there has been a distinct drop in temperature, the city will remain muggy with high humidity not expected to dissipate.

Dandenong could receive up to 30mm of rain.

“The storms affecting Melbourne, they actually extend in a line up to Swan Hill and into NSW so it’s an expansive band of storms,” Mr Efron said.

“The storms will ease later tonight, then steady overnight and it will be much cooler tomorrow. The humidity will drop off as well.”

As much as 100mm of rain could hit the highlands and Gippsland, with 30-50mm predicted for parts of central Victoria.

Bureau of Meteorology supervising meteorologist Peter Otto said a “decent” cool change was spreading across the state, bringing with it heavy rain and a break from repressive humid conditions.

“The central parts of the state, including Melbourne, and areas further east into Gippsland could get heavier falls today,” he said.

“We ask people to look at the warnings the bureau is providing.

“Thunderstorms are expected as a cool change moves through the state.

“That cool change will give temperature relief across the state and into the Gippsland region by tomorrow.”

Temperatures in the city hovered around 29C last night, just two degrees below the hottest overnight low.

Mildura recorded its hottest overnight temperature of 31.4C.

“Moist air has fed down from the tropics for a number of days,” Mr Otto said.

“This really is Queensland air and it has certainly felt like it.

“It will feel a lot better by tomorrow.”

The temperature in Melbourne dropped 8C in just 30 minutes this afternoon - from 32C to 24C at 3.30pm.

Geelong and Avalon also cooled down considerably to the mid-20s after highs near 40C yesterday.

The Bureau of Meteorology’s warning for heavy rainfall and flash flooding covers parts of eastern Victoria.

Areas at most risk include Morwell, Traralgon, Sale, Moe, Bairnsdale and Falls Creek.

FIRE FEAR AS HEAT RAMPS UP

Bureau of Meteorology senior forecaster Michael Efron said although the temperature was falling, conditions would still be sticky.

“It remains humid behind that change,” he said.

Mr Efron said there would be short bursts of heavy rain to come this evening, with Yarra Glen and the Dandenong Ranges in the outer east expected to cop the largest downfalls near Melbourne.

Forecaster Richard Carlyon said although the wind change this afternoon was causing the temperature to drop, it won’t be until tomorrow morning that the tropical moisture will disappear.

The high humidity experienced across the state was uncharacteristic for Victoria, he said.

Almost 8000 Victorians are still without power, with services not restored for many until this evening.

YOUR GUIDE TO SURVIVING A BUSHFIRE

Premier Daniel Andrews was last night at the Australian Open men's final. Picture: Michael Klein
Premier Daniel Andrews was last night at the Australian Open men's final. Picture: Michael Klein

Premier Daniel Andrews today hit back at claims the outages were due to a lack of power supply.

“This was not a power supply issue, this was about distribution and localised faults,” he said.

“I know that doesn’t do much to ease the obvious frustrations that many Victorians faced overnight.

“The government is looking at all means to compel those energy companies to compensate those who were affected by power outages.”

Mr Andrews said the government would also review the faults and consider whether it needed to compel power distributors to make upgrades.

“The distribution companies are required to maintain and improve the network and they have been charging customers handsomely to do that,” he said.

Victoria’s Energy Minister Lily D’Ambrosio also said customers who were left without power overnight might be eligible for compensation and said she would sit down with distributors and the Australian Energy Regulator to investigate the cause of the mass blackout.

“This is very serious and people deserve better,” Ms D’Ambrosio told 3AW.

Ms D’Ambrosio said Victorians had been “let down” by faults within poles, wires and substations across the energy networks.

Ms D’Ambrosio could not say when the 7896 customers still without power would be reconnected, but said once power was restored she would “get to the bottom of what happened”.

“Victorians are entitled to know that when they need their power on … they ought to feel confident it is there for them,” she said.

Ms D’Ambrosio said compensation payouts were a possibility but it was up to energy companies to determine on a case-by-case basis.

A spokesman for United Energy, CitiPower and Powercor said substation fuse faults were the main cause of most outages as the mercury climbed past 40C in some parts of the state.

“The prolonged high temperatures and humidity through the weekend significantly increased electricity demand at many locations across the network,” the spokesman said.

“Due to the large volume of faults, in some cases there may be extended restoration times with power in some areas likely to be affected until this evening.”

German tourist Marcel Trezenschik cools off in Elwood beach on an inflatable unicorn. Picture: Eugene Hyland
German tourist Marcel Trezenschik cools off in Elwood beach on an inflatable unicorn. Picture: Eugene Hyland

HOW THE OUTAGES UNFOLDED

About 17,000 properties were without power at 6.45am in the United Energy network area and 354 in CitiPower and Powercor networks.

Crews worked through the night to restore power to about 30,000 homes and businesses and will continue today.

More than 48,000 homes had no power at the height of the outage.

Melbourne’s east and southeastern suburbs were among the first to lose power as the mercury climbed to 45C in some parts of the state, but outages soared as blackouts hit the inner city, western suburbs and parts of Geelong.

The Bellarine Peninsula was one of the hardest hit by outages, with more than 15,000 households in the beachside towns of Ocean Grove, St Leonards, Indented Head, Point Lonsdale and Queenscliff left sweating.

The regional towns of Maryborough, Portland and Ballarat were also affected.

CitiPower group customers received SMS notifications that power should have been restored by 10.30pm.

AusNet estimated last night that power in affected parts of Bayswater, Ringwood, Upwey, Upper Ferntree Gully and Heathmont would not return until 4am

Power outages across Victoria have left tens of thousands in the dark. Picture: Powercor
Power outages across Victoria have left tens of thousands in the dark. Picture: Powercor

SUBURBS SWELTERED OVERNIGHT

Noble Park resident Sammy Dower said she had been without power since 8pm last night and wasn’t expected to be back online until 9.30pm tonight.

“How can that be possible? It’s going to be 35C today,” Ms Dower told the Herald Sun.

Ms Dower said her whole street was also offline and she had slept on wet towels overnight in an attempt to keep cool.

“My step dad even slept outside,” she said.

Ms Dower was among hundreds of Victorians who took to social media to vent their anger as the system buckled.

Hoddles Creek resident Peter Gebbing said he was “sick of these power outages”.

“Seriously! This is not a third world country, surely we can keep the power on ALL THE TIME,” Mr Gebbing wrote.

Isabella Anstasia said she had been without power since 6pm.

“It’s now 5am on Monday and the website still says expected restoration by 2am, but that was three hours ago,” Ms Anstasia wrote.

“What am I missing?” she said.

United Energy is reportedly having issues with its website.

The Herald Sun has contacted United for comment.

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“We apologise for any inconvenience these outages are causing, particularly during this extreme heat,” the CitiPower spokesman said.

“We will keep customers updated on restoration times via SMS and on our website.”

Moulay Bekkali cools off at Elwood beach. Picture: Eugene Hyland
Moulay Bekkali cools off at Elwood beach. Picture: Eugene Hyland

An AusNet spokesman said customers in Phillip Island and Melbourne’s outer-eastern suburbs were among the worst affected by blackouts.

“Most of the problems today have been fuses blowing basically because of hot weather and very high demand,” the spokesman said.

The view from Altona as the sun rises over the bay on Sunday. Picture: Sarah Matray
The view from Altona as the sun rises over the bay on Sunday. Picture: Sarah Matray

“In many places, people may have put airconditioners in that we’re not aware of, so it’s higher demand than we expect in a few areas.”

A spokesman for the Australian Energy Market Operator said the national grid had “held up” in the heat and the blackouts were attributed to local network outages rather than supply and demand.

Melbourne is expected to reach a top of 39C today. Picture: Sarah Matray
Melbourne is expected to reach a top of 39C today. Picture: Sarah Matray
The early morning was the best time to get some exercise. Picture: Sarah Matray
The early morning was the best time to get some exercise. Picture: Sarah Matray

State Energy Minister Lily D’Ambrosio wrote on Twitter last night: “I know power outages are incredibly frustrating, but there was sufficient energy supply available in Victoria.

“There were, however, some breakdowns in equipment owned by private power distribution companies.

“Anyone claiming this was a supply issue is profoundly misinformed.”

Emergency services have advised Victorians to drink water, not leave pets or children in cars, plan ahead and keep cool.

— with AAP

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Original URL: https://www.heraldsun.com.au/news/victoria/no-relief-in-sight-for-victoria-as-hot-and-humid-summer-spell-continues/news-story/8d923a029ec69f6d4cd9642ef3fab34d