Weather forecast: Winds to ease but warnings still in place after Victoria hit by wild weather
Sunday night’s deadly winds left 180,000 people without power, threw public transport into chaos and caused mass destruction. Find what’s to come as weather warnings remain in place.
Victoria
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More than 120,000 people were left without power in Victoria after wild winds battered the state overnight.
Victorians were warned to brace for winds of up to 130km/h as gales caused damage to 660 properties, leaving some homes uninhabitable.
Premier Jacinta Allan confirmed 180,000 people were without power at 6.30am, with 121,000 still without power hours later at 10.45am.
By 4pm, about 98,000 homes were still without power.
Emergency Services Commissioner Rick Nugent said there had been more than 2800 requests for help between 7pm Sunday and 10am Monday, with around half of those requests still active as of 10.45am.
He also confirmed 90 intersections in metropolitan Melbourne were without power mid-Monday morning.
Gusts reached up to 146km/h at Wilsons Prom overnight, while winds of up to 141km/h were recorded in the bay area off the coast of Melbourne.
On land, gusts were consistently over 100km/h in St Kilda, Avalon, Essendon, Frankston and Laverton.
Ms Allan said higher risk areas included the Bellarine Peninsula, parts of Geelong, the Mornington Peninsula, Wilsons Promontory, the Dandenong Rangers, the Yarra Ranges, the Alpine Ranges and the Macedon Ranges.
“Victorians statewide, but particularly in those areas, are urged to stay informed and be aware of potential hazards,” she said.
Earlier on Monday, there were major disruptions to public transport, with the Sandringham line suspended after the winds damaged overhead power lines in the Brighton Beach-Middle Brighton area.
Passengers dealt with delays of up to an hour as replacement buses were ordered.
The Craigieburn, Cranbourne, Pakenham were also hit by major delays while other lines were plagued by cancellations.
Coaches replaced V/Line trains between Bairnsdale and Southern Cross due to debris across the tracks.
Why is it so windy?
The winds follow a week of hectic weather in Victoria, seeing the SES inundated with more than 3000 requests for assistance in the week leading up to Sunday, mostly due to trees down.
Bureau of Meteorology senior meteorologist Christie Johnson said Victoria was in the midst of its strongest cold front this year.
She said of the three fronts that had swept over the state, the conditions on Sunday and Monday had been the worst.
“A series of strong cold fronts came through, bringing extremely windy conditions … including pulses of damaging winds,” she said.
“The winds have actually been the strongest across the state already this morning, so the winds will gradually ease from the west throughout today,” Ms Johnson said.
Along the coast, she said there had been “abnormally” high tides and some low lying areas had been inundated with seawater.
Emergency services rush to Gellibrand after tree falls on car, killing driver
Woman killed after tree falls on cabin
A 63-year-old woman was killed when a tree fell on a cabin in Moama on the Victoria-NSW border overnight.
Emergency services were called to Merool Rd, Moama, where they found the body of the woman in the wreckage. She is yet to be formally identified.
It is unclear whether she was on holiday or was a local resident.
Premier Jacinta Allan paid tribute to the victim.
“I want to express my deepest sympathies to the family and loved ones of the woman who has been killed,“ she said.
A man, also aged in his 60s, was treated at the scene by paramedics and was taken to Echuca Hospital for further treatment.
What’s to come? Weather this week
Strong wind warnings are expected to be cancelled for large parts of the state come Monday night.
But the strong wind warning remains in place on Tuesday, September 3 for the West Coast and the Central Coast.
Residents in Central Gippsland Coast and East Gippsland Coast have also been warned to brace for gales on Tuesday.
But Bureau of Meteorology meteorologist Joanna Hewes said another cold front was on its way this week.
“Winds will pick up again late Wednesday into Thursday,” she said.
“But it’s not looking as strong as Sunday night, which is the strongest that we’ve seen over the last few windy days.”
Ms Hewes said Victoria was likely to have had its warmest August on record, with the BOM to release its next climate summary report this week.
Parts of Victoria could also be in for a wetter than average spring.
Ms Hewes said increased rainfall was expected in parts of the state’s south and west.
“There are slightly increased chances of rainfall in areas such as Gippsland and the Grampians,” Ms Hewes said.
“But the signal is looking pretty neutral for most of Victoria. In Melbourne, there is a 54 per cent chance of above median rainfall; it won’t be much higher or lower than average.”
Severe weather shuts schools
Some schools were closed on Monday, with students given the option to undertake remote learning due to the severe weather.
A list of school and childcare closures was due to be updated at 8.30am Monday on the Department of Education website.
Principals at some schools sent out emails to parents on Sunday evening advising them of school closures and other precautions.
Premier Jacinta Allan on Monday said two government schools — St Helena Secondary College in Eltham and the Yarra Ranges Special Developmental School — had been closed for the day, with many more independent schools also closing their doors.
Kilbreda College in Mentone also opted to close due to the strong winds.
“We encourage students to use this time to complete any outstanding assignments and homework,” the school said in an email.
Students at St Bedes’s College in Mentone also switched to remote learning for the day.
Dromana Secondary College sent out a note to parents saying if families had safety concerns in relation to students attending school they should stay home and follow lessons remotely.
“The absence will be recorded as an approved absence. The school will also be operating as normal,” the school said.
Balcombe Grammar School in Mount Martha and Padua College’s three campuses in Mornington, Rosebud and Tyabb are also closed due to the weather.
The Knox School is without power and has closed as a result.
Ferry services cancelled
The wild weather and savage seas have resulted in Victorian ferry services being cancelled, with disruptions to both the Spirit of Tasmania and Port Phillip Ferries.
Port Phillip Ferries notified customers on Monday all its services for the day were cancelled “due to extreme weather conditions and high winds”.
Services were expected to resume as scheduled on Tuesday, it said.
It came as Spirit of Tasmania services were also disrupted over the weekend – with sailing from Devonport to Geelong cancelled completely on Saturday night.
The fallout from that cancellation resulted in rescheduled services, with Geelong to Devonport day sailing scheduled for Sunday September 1 moved back to Monday, September 2.
A ship was brought back into service from dry dock in Sydney to enable two ships to perform double sailings on Monday to clear passenger, vehicle and freight backlogs.
A spokesman for the Spirit of Tasmania said the shipping line had been communicating directly with passengers about the changes and would continue to do so.
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