Storm leaves more than 12,000 Victorian homes without power in midst of heatwave
Thousands of homes across Victoria are without power in the middle of a heatwave after storms swept across the state overnight.
Victoria
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Severe storms swept across Victoria overnight leaving more than 12,000 homes and businesses without power amid a heatwave that will push temperatures up to 40 degrees.
Extreme heat is expected to prevail across Victoria, with the Bureau of Meteorology forecasting a top of 39C for Melbourne and a top of 34C tomorrow.
Geelong and the Surf Coast will sweat it out with forecasts of 38C and 32C respectively for Monday and Tuesday.
The Mallee and Wimmera districts are set to experience similar highs of 41C and 39C, while Gippsland will feel similar heat with forecasts of 39C and 38C today and tomorrow.
Weather radar maps from BoM show the state has been thrust into a low-intensity heatwave, downgraded from a more worrying severe-intensity heatwave on Sunday.
The State Emergency Service (SES) received more than 700 calls for assistance on Sunday night, with more than half coming from Geelong — flash flooding prompting nearly 100 of those calls.
As of Monday morning 12,271 properties were still without electricity as emergency crews worked to restore power across the state.
Decent rains in Geelong. From a mate in Bell Post Hill. pic.twitter.com/DWAjCY6hGP
— Ross (@Rosspipesy) February 2, 2025
Straight hail for the last 5 minutes. #thunderstorms#geelongpic.twitter.com/VeXg4MG3aV
— 🇦🇺 Adam Price 🇦🇺 (@Adam___Price) February 2, 2025
AusNet, the operator responsible for power lines in Victoria’s east, reported a power line down in Ringwood North, near the intersection of Oban and Warrandyte Roads.
The failing power line affected four suburbs in Melbourne’s north east — North Warrandyte, Warrandyte, Ringwood North and Kangaroo Ground — cutting electricity to nearly 820 homes and businesses.
Phillip Island also experienced severe damage from strong winds, with SES responding to 27 calls from Ventnor and Cowes.
An outage in Ventnor impacting 1109 customers is currently under investigation by AusNet.
A lightning strike is also believed to have sparked a fire in Taylors Lakes, one of four house fires reported early Monday morning.
The blaze quickly spread through the roof causing part of it to collapse.
Two residents were evacuated safely from the property.
Originally published as Storm leaves more than 12,000 Victorian homes without power in midst of heatwave
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