Calls for help soar as wild winds batter Victoria

Pelting rain and damaging winds are battering Victoria as a cold front sweeps the state. It comes after hundreds of calls for help overnight as thousands were left without power.

Large parts of Victoria were lashed by wild winds on Tuesday night but the worst is yet to come.

Thousands are without power after a strong cold front approached from the west overnight, bringing with it wind gusts of more than 120km/h at Mt Hotham and 90km/h at St Kilda.

Another severe weather warning for damaging winds across most of the state — including Melbourne — was issued by the Bureau of Meteorology on Wednesday morning.

They warned the greatest impact would be between 2pm and 4pm.

“Damaging wind gusts are possible across much of Victoria today as a blustery cold front sweeps across the state,” the Bureau tweeted.

“Gusty showers and thunderstorms are also likely.”

The snowfall at Falls Creek was enjoyed by two-year-old Ollie and his mum Andge. Picture: Chris Hocking

A felled tree in Kalorama after wild winds overnight. Picture: Facebook

WILD WINDS DOWN TREES, POWERLINES

Houses and cars were hit by falling trees on Tuesday night, as winds of more than 100km/h lashed the state.

The SES responded to more than 650 calls across the state as a cold front moved across Victoria.

The Dandenongs — still recovering from last month’s storms — was again one of the hardest hit areas, with the Emerald SES Unit responding to 85 calls for help.

But residents were unlikely to see a repeat of last month’s carnage due to different wind directions, a Bureau of Meteorology spokesman said.

An SES spokeswoman said one person was evacuated from their home in Bulla overnight after a tree fell on their building.

“The person inside … was safe but just had to be relocated overnight because of the damage to the home,” she said.

There was also damage in the Upper Yarra SES unit region (59 calls), Pakenham (35 calls) and Frankston (32 calls).

That workload is expected to rise, with damaging winds on track to hit most of Victoria — including Melbourne — this afternoon.

SES crews respond after wild winds hit Melbourne. Picture: Facebook

Maeva and her son Rennie get drenched by waves on a pier at Middle Park. Picture: David Caird

SES State Agency Commander Alistair Drayton said their volunteers had been kept busy and warned Victorians about the conditions ahead.

“Our volunteers have had a busy night, with several units responding to calls for help for trees over their homes or vehicles,” he said.

“With further gusty and strong winds expected across most of the state today, the Bureau of Meteorology has issued severe weather warning, please follow the advice of emergency services and avoid any unnecessary travel to storm-affected areas”.

The Bureau of Meteorology warned damaging winds would be widespread across the state and could impact Melbourne, Geelong, Horsham, Warrnambool, Bendigo, Seymour, Maryborough and Ballarat.

“Blizzards are expected about the Alpine peaks, most likely this afternoon,” the warning reads.

“Damaging West to North Westerly winds, averaging 40 to 60 km/h with peak gusts of 90 to 100 km/h, are possible across the warning area during the day, mainly associated with showers and thunderstorms.

‘Winds are expected to ease below warning thresholds by early Wednesday evening.”

Residents in the Dandenongs are unlikely to see a repeat of last month’s carnage. Picture: David Geraghty

About 10,000 AusNet customers were without power across its network at 10pm, including more than 6600 residents in the Dandenong Ranges.

By Wednesday morning, the number of customers without unplanned power outages was still more than 6600, with Wallan, Mount Evelyn, Beaconsfield Upper and Montrose the worst hit.

“Strong winds across the state are impacting our network,” an alert from the network read.

“Our crews are assessing the damage and doing repair works where it is safe to do so.”

An AusNet spokeswoman said crews were assessing downed power lines and would bring them back online when it was safe to do so.

Falls Creek and Hotham reopened on Wednesday after huge snowfalls.

SKI RESORTS BENEFIT FROM COLD BLAST

The cooler weather comes at the perfect time for Victorians to return to the slopes.

Falls Creek and Hotham reopened on Wednesday — the first day out of lockdown — to “huge snowfalls”.

Hotham vice president and general manager Belinda Trembath said they were “very excited” to welcome guests back.

“We’ve received masses of snow in the last week and look forward to offering some great terrain for our guests.”

Mt Hotham was home to the highest recorded wind gusts in Victoria overnight, with the Bureau recording gusts of 122km/h.

Mt Buller was second, peaking at 119km/h.

Under Victorian government rules, all guests planning to visit the state’s ski resorts must return a negative Covid-19 test within 72 hours before visiting.

Originally published as Calls for help soar as wild winds batter Victoria