Wild weather to batter Victoria again with heavy rain, damaging winds

Flood warnings are in place for parts of Gippsland and the Otway coast as wild weather makes its way south from NSW.

Victoria’s east coast has copped a drenching as a low pressure system moves south from NSW.

A flood watch is also in place for much of west and south Gippsland and the Otway Coast.

It comes as NSW was lashed by devastating floods and rainfall, forcing more than 18,000 people to evacuate their homes.

In Victoria, 194mm of rain fell at Balook while Mallacoota had 107mm. Yarram also recorded its wettest day on record after being soaked with 138mm.

Bureau of Meteorology meteorologist Keris Arndt said rainfall totals of 50-100mm were recorded through most southern Gippsland.

Wild weather is set to lash the state again. Picture: David Caird

The worst affected areas were in the far-east including the Strzelecki ranges and Wilsons Promontory.

Ms Arndt said many sites recorded their wettest March day on record.

“Gippsland was affected by a low pressure system that moved over the far-east into Bass Strait overnight last night,” she said.

“This was the same system that brought flooding rain to eastern NSW over the past week.

“It has been very windy through eastern Bass Strait. The strongest wind gust (was) 115km/h at Wilsons Promontory lighthouse.”

Ms Arndt said a minor flood warning had been issued for the Snowy River after the Genoa River peaked above moderate flood level, but had since subsided.

Ms Arndt said the worst of the weather had passed with isolated showers expected for Gippsland on Thursday with winds predicted to ease.

Ms Arndt said Melbourne only experienced some drizzle on Wednesday and “was never in the firing line for the heaviest rain”.

The weather system is now moving west. File image: Alex Coppel

A State Emergency Service spokeswoman said emergency crews had responded to more than 147 requests for help in the 24 hours to 5.30pm.

Ninety-nine were for fallen trees, 20 counts of building damage, 10 flooding incidents, six road rescues, and another four jobs to assist police.

The busiest areas for crews were Mallacoota, Loch Sport, and Yarram.

The Bureau of Meteorology earlier issued a severe weather warning for parts of Central, East Gippsland and West and South Gippsland.

The alert warns residents in these areas should brace for “damaging winds and heavy rain”.

While winds are also expected to ease throughout the day, peak gusts will blow at an average between 90 and 100kmh.

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Originally published as Wild weather to batter Victoria again with heavy rain, damaging winds