TUESDAY'S WEATHER, PICTURES, VIDEO: Trees down across Bendigo
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MORE than 4000 people experienced power outages yesterday when trees across Bendigo fell due to a severe storm.
A Powercor spokesman said a tree in Condon Street, Kennington was blown over about 10.30am, causing a power outage to 2396 houses.
Nearby La Trobe University was affected by the outage, with the entire campus losing power, including a room where students were taking exams.
The campus closed at 10.45am and reopened at noon. By 1.30pm most power across Bendigo was restored, Powercor said.
Bureau of Meteorology senior forecaster Richard Carlyon said the winds picked up in Bendigo at 10am, peaking just before 1pm, with gusts of 82 km/ h.
The State Emergency Service was on hand throughout the day to remove fallen trees and other safety hazards.
SES North West regional operations manager Andrew Gill said the organisation responded to many incidents in the Loddon Mallee region.
But the region was not as badly affected as Melbourne, he said, where the SES received more than 2000 calls for help.
A multi-agency task force consisting of 15 Loddon Mallee SES volunteers, as well as CFA and Department of Environment and Primary Industry officers, travelled to Melbourne last night to provide emergency help to people affected by the storm.