By Cassandra Morgan and Gemma Grant
A man died after a tree branch crushed his car at a camping ground in Victoria’s north, as wild weather hit the state and storms rolled through Melbourne.
The Bureau of Meteorology issued several severe thunderstorm alerts on Wednesday afternoon, warning of damaging winds, large hailstones and heavy rainfall that could lead to flash flooding around much of Port Phillip Bay, including Melbourne, the Mornington Peninsula, Geelong and the Bellarine Peninsula.
The severe storms drenched parts of Melbourne as they travelled south-east across the city, dumping as much as 40 millimetres of rain in half an hour in some suburbs.
The Sandringham train line was suspended after a tree branch fell on overhead wires at Middle Brighton station.
State Emergency Service duty officer Kate Turner warned Victorians to be alert on Wednesday evening, noting there were still severe weather warnings active across much of the state.
“I think the main messaging that we have is for people to remain vigilant. Storms only take a split second to develop.”
The SES received just over 210 requests for assistance over the 24 hours to 6pm Wednesday. More than 100 were for fallen trees; around 50 related to building damage.
“We only get about 30 minutes notice to warn the community … So really [make] sure that you stay informed and are monitoring the weather warnings from the bureau and through the Vic Emergency app,” Turner said.
Clayton was drenched with 43 millimetres of rain between 4pm and 4.30pm, while 38.8 millimetres of rain fell in Oakleigh South over the same period.
There was also a high risk of thunderstorm asthma forecast for North Central Victoria and the West and South Gippsland areas.
On Tuesday night, police were called to a camping area in Yarrawonga, in the state’s north, after a large branch fell onto a moving vehicle during dangerous weather.
The 45-year-old driver, who is yet to be formally identified, died at the scene, while his wife and teenage son, who both sustained upper-body injuries, were able to free themselves from the car.
The boy was taken to Northeast Health Wangaratta hospital in a stable condition and his mother was taken to hospital in a serious but stable condition.
Police said the family were locals who were trying to safely evacuate the area.
Sergeant Shaun Hillier described the incident as a tragic accident and said police were supporting the family “every way we can”.
The wild weather has also damaged some crops, particularly stone fruit and wheat, and could contribute to shortages in supermarkets, coinciding with weeks-long industrial action by Woolworths workers.
Michael Crisera of Fruit Growers Victoria said the Goulburn Valley had had between 40 and 50 millimetres of rain plus hail recently, and the rain would affect fruit that is close to maturity, particularly cherries.
The weather bureau has warned stone-fruit growers that rainfall and high humidity are conducive to brown rot, which causes serious fruit losses.
Farmer Ryan Milgate from Minyip in the state’s north-west said the rain would limit high-quality grains.
He said the badly timed weather during harvest was “like losing a grand final by a point after the siren, after leading all year”.
“We don’t work all year to watch it disappear at the final hurdle,” he said.
Melbourne reached its highest “dew point temperature” on record for the month of November on Wednesday morning, with a measure of 21.3 degrees at 9am.
The Melboure skyline on Wednesday afternoon. Credit: Joe Armao
Dew point measures how much water vapor saturates the surrounding air, and is different to humidity. It’s known as “absolute humidity” or the “feels like” temperature of humidity.
Victoria’s near-record breaking humidity is expected to persist until Sunday.
“It’s probably not even until Sunday that we start to see that air being a bit drier, with some south-westerlies coming through. So it’s going to be quite a humid time,” said the bureau’s Morgan Pumpa.
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