Wild weather as vicious cold front blasts Victoria

A man has been killed and a woman is fighting for life after a tree fell on their car in Gellibrand, as wild weather lashed the state. The SES has received more than 1000 calls for help in 24 hours.

A man has been killed and a woman flown to hospital in a critical condition after a tree fell on their car in Gellibrand, as wild weather lashed the state.

Police on Wednesday afternoon said the car had been travelling along Main Road, near Berrys Road, about 1.30pm when the accident occurred.

Both the driver and passenger remained trapped in the vehicle two hours later, at 3.30pm.

The male driver died at the scene and the female passenger is now fighting for life.

“Both are yet to be formally identified and the exact circumstances surrounding the incident are being investigated,” a police spokeswoman said.

The accident in Gellibrand that has killed one and critically injured another. Picture: Supplied.

It comes as Powercor responded to a number of incidents leaving thousands of people without power across the state, with the southern region the hardest hit.

It’s understood the accident in Gellibrand may have cut the electricity of an estimated 1220 customers.

Wind gusts of up to 120km/h have been recorded.

“At this stage, we are responding to over 100 separate fault jobs, including 20 fallen powerlines,” a Powercor spokesman said.

It came as a vicious cold front barrelled through Victoria on Wednesday, with savage winds.

Property and other damage was reported across the state, with many trees down.

There were also reports of super, flooding tides and dangerous rough seas.

In the 24 hours to 3.45pm on Wednesday, Victoria’s State Emergency Service reported 1,211 calls for help, 10 rescues, 937 trees down, 173 buildings damaged and four flood events.

Thousands of properties also experienced unplanned power outage.

Gusts as strong as 128 km/h were recorded in Mount Buller, with similarly powerful winds seen at Mount Hotham, Mount Gellibrand and Kilmore Gap.

Destruction in Moorabbin after wild weather through the state overnight. Picture: Facebook

SES Hastings crews clear fallen trees. Picture: Facebook

BOM senior meteorologist Angus Hines said conditions were likely to ease on Wednesday evening, but more wild weather was set to smash Victoria again later this week.

“We are likely to see a similar repeat pattern appear in a couple of days time,” Mr Hines said.

“We’ve had this cold front move through overnight last night … continuing to be windy today, eases off a little bit tomorrow, but only temporarily.”

He said as the initial cold front headed further offshore, strong winds would be left in its wake and continue to lash large areas of the state, including Melbourne.

Emergency crews at a home in Whitehorse. Picture: Facebook

Crews clear fallen trees after wild winds ripped through the state. Picture: Facebook

It comes after a man was hospitalised but miraculously survived when a giant tree crashed on his caravan at Shawlands Caravan Park, in Dandenong South, on Tuesday afternoon.

The SES and Bureau of Meteorology had earlier warned a weather “phenomenon” would hit Melbourne and other parts of Victoria on Tuesday night and Wednesday as high winds and seas hit the state in what was expected to be the coldest front experienced yet this year.

Victorians were warned to tie down trampolines, pack away outdoor settings, stay off heavily-treed roads and steer clear of rock fishing and the surf.

SES chief Tim Wiebusch on Tuesday afternoon said a severe weather warning — with very damaging winds — was in place “for swathes of Victoria”, and was likely to be the strongest cold front to hit Victoria this winter.

Residents in alpine areas were warned to brace for destructive peak wind gusts of up to 130km/h overnight, while Melbourne was also expected to be very windy and hit with up to 2mm of rain.

High tides and rough seas also meant people should refrain from rock fishing.

“For those that enjoy rock fishing, unfortunately, the next 36 hours is not the time to be out rock fishing, particularly while we’re seeing damaging surf and abnormally high tides along our coasts, that extends from the south west coast even around Port Phillip Bay and into the Gippsland area, Mr Wiebusch saidon Tuesday afternoon.

Senior meteorologist with the Bureau of Meteorology, Kevin Parkin, said the wild weather was result of a significant cold front, which had been spurred on by abnormally high temperatures for this time of year.

“It’s quite phenomenal, and that’s partially behind why this weather system is evolving,” he said.

A man was rushed to hospital after a large tree fell on his caravan at Shawlands Caravan Park in Dandenong South. Picture: Supplied

“Weather features like this also come with a coastal hazard, and so the bureau has not only issued a severe weather warning for damaging and locally destructive winds, but also a coastal hazard — which is elevated sea levels along the coast from Gippsland pretty much all the way through to Portland, as well as damaging surf, as much as nine metres hitting the south west coast.”

The Bass Coast and Bayside suburbs of Melbourne were at risk of not only of northerly winds but also westerlies on Wednesday, “driving up the choppy conditions, with the waves and the sea level eroding beaches”, he said.

There would be some reprieve on Thursday before the winds picked up again on Thursday night and into Friday.