Dairy farmers forced to wait as thousands lose power

Dairy farmers were unable to milk as thousands of properties were left without power in southwest Victoria, after severe weather and a road crash caused widespread damage.

Drones, field crews and generators have been deployed after more than 20,000 people lost power across western and central Victoria.

About 320 people remain with no supply, but Powercor has restored most properties overnight after severe weather caused extensive damage and widespread power losses.

A Powercor statement said Colac and Otway were the hardest hit, with Ballarat and Warrnambool crews joining the region to help repair the damage, alongside drones for “difficult terrain” in Carlisle River and Gellibrand.

Apollo Bay has gained a generator while it remains without power, with another generator expected later today.

Powercor will send a mobile emergency response vehicle, MERV, later today to provide communities with updated information, a charging station, and Wi-Fi.

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Dairy farmers are unable to milk as thousands of properties are without power in southwest Victoria, after severe weather and a road crash is causing widespread damage.

Powercor crews reported 5677 homes and businesses have lost power with more than 100 separate fault jobs, including 20 fallen powerlines.

Powercor said in a statement southern Victoria and along the Great Ocean Road were the hardest-hit regions, which faced winds up to 120 kilometres an hour.

Barongarook West dairy farmer Simon Scott said he lost power overnight and was unable to milk his 200-head of cattle this morning.

He said his diesel generator for the dairy had worn out and was in need of a $30,000 replacement.

“I’m hoping I can get them milked tonight before it’s too late,” he said.

“I went and shifted our cows and they’re all standing there bellowing and dripping milk, we just have to cop the loss.”

He said he had trees down, with some across his road and over boundary fences.

“It’s the roughest weather I’ve seen for a long time, especially the winds and even today, we’ve had the strongest winds today,” he said.

Meanwhile according to police media, emergency service responded to reports a tree had fallen on a vehicle in Gellibrand earlier today.

It’s believed the vehicle was travelling along Main Road near Berrys Road around 1.30pm when the tree fell on the car, trapping both occupants.

The male driver has died at the scene, the female passenger has been flown to hospital in a critical condition.

Powercor said it had extra crews to repair damaged infrastructure and restore power, but some customers could still be without power tomorrow.

“Due to the large volumes of faults and complexity of some of the damage, restoration times will be longer than usual,” the statement said.

People in the area should report fallen powerlines to Powercor on 13 24 12, and always assume a powerline is live.