Storm hits drought-stricken Victoria

Trees down, floods and infrastructure damage in drought-stricken Melbourne

Via Facebook

Emergency services are currently working around the clock at the moment in Victoria attending numerous incidents, mainly for trees down, flooding and structure damage.

As you can see in the image below, numerous incidents are occurring around the central districts.

Take care on the roads guys as these southwesterly winds are causing havoc across the state.

For some reason this was not a headlines in the Age although this sort of story is usually a paper's bread and butter

Thousands of homes without power as hundreds call for help due to storms

Roofs have been ripped off houses, trees have crashed to the ground and trampolines have flown out of backyards as severe storms batter Victoria.

The State Emergency Service has received more than 520 calls for help since midnight on Friday with 73 calls coming from the Wyndham region in southwest Melbourne alone since 6.30am.

Some 100 calls have come from across Gippsland.

Thousands of Victorian homes were without power, but most have had it restored after the state was buffeted by high winds and heavy rain.

A woman from Wyndham Vale, one of the worst areas hit, rang radio 3AW to say a 'mini tornado' had ripped through her street.

 

3AW BreakfastVerified account‏@RossAndJohn

Caller Sharon says this tree came down on a moving car in Pt Cook this morning ... #VICTRAFFIC

 

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9:48 AM - 18 Mar 2016

In a dramatic call to the radio station, she claimed: "We've got people's fences ripped down, there's holes in roofs, ceilings have fallen down.

"Someone has lost their whole family-sized trampoline - they've got no idea where it's gone, they are missing their back fence and they've gained someone else's dog."

A severe thunderstorm warning has been revoked but a severe weather warning for damaging winds and heavy rainfall remains in place for Victoria's central, northeast and eastern regions, including Melbourne.

Much of Melbourne has recorded more than 12 millimetres since midnight, while Strathbogie in the state's northeast was drenched by 44mm of rain in nine hours.

Aspendale resident Andrea Perry says her family of four was woken by "an almighty bang" as her neighbour's roof was dumped onto her home in Melbourne's southeast.

"The neighbour's house next door, they are renovating, and the whole roof has completely landed on our house including all of our cars, boat and my husband's work truck," she told 3AW on Friday.

"It kind of felt like the world was ending in that moment."

 

3AW MelbourneVerified account‏@3AW693

Yikes! Two men have apparently escaped this at Yarra Valley. Stay safe out there! PIC: (@BoomShakalakkaa)

 

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9:43 AM - 18 Mar 2016

Victorians have reported gale-force winds tossing trampolines and other children's play equipment over several fences.

Victoria SES spokeswoman Jacquie Quaine says most calls for help have been for damaged roofs but there's also been reports of fallen trees.

Though no flash flooding has been reported, Ms Quaine expects SES crews - especially those in Wyndham, Melbourne's southeast and the Gippsland region - to remain busy for the rest of Friday.

"With the high volume of calls in such concentrated areas, we're asking for patience," she told AAP.

Train commuters in many parts of Melbourne have also suffered delays and cancellations.

A tree across tracks in Ripponlea suspended services on the Sandringham line, while trains on other lines were forced to reduce their speed due to wet tracks.

There were also reports major delays on the Sunbury, Lilydale and Craigieburn lines.

The expected top temperature for the day of 21 degrees was achieved before 9am, with a cool change coming through meaning temperatures for the rest of the day were be in the mid to late teens.

The peak gust in Victoria was an eye-watering 96 km/h at Fawkner Beacon in the Bay, just off Brighton.

The Australian grand prix practise and qualifying is likely to be impacted by the rain, with showers expected on Saturday. But the forecast the race itself on Sunday is fine and sunny at this stage.

March has experienced some of its hottest temperatures on record, but the mercury will only just sneak past 20 degrees on Friday and Saturday before warming up to the mid-20s next week.