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UPDATE 11.50am: Some residents in Eaglehawk woke up to the sound of windows shattering as a result of lightning strikes in last night’s storm.
Windows in at least three houses in Kirkwood Road were smashed and houses were left with scorch marks from a surge in voltage.
Sam Lawry said she heard a loud crash and then windows breaking, which made her first think a large tree outside had fallen on the house.
The windows smashing were not in her house, but elsewhere in the street; instead, in her home, the strike caused pictures to fall from walls and objects to crash down from shelves.
Mrs Lawry said they could also smell burning plastic in the home, and the front room filled with smoke.
Remarkably, her baby slept through the whole event.
Mrs Lawry’s home is among those waiting for power to be restored.
She said she would need an electrician’s assessment to determine the home was safe.
Powercor says three customers in Eaglehawk were affected by a power outage.
A crew and an inspector are on site assessing damage and repairing infrastructure.
UPDATE 9.05am: A cold front was responsible for the storm that hit Bendigo and the surrounding region overnight.
Bureau of Meteorology senior forecaster Keris Arndt said the front brought the thunderstorm, rain and gusts that reached 37km/h in Bendigo.
Mr Arndt said another cold front was coming up from the state’s southeast, but it was “touch and go” as to when it would make Bendigo.
If so, he said, there could be more storm activity.
Tomorrow could also bring another cold front, Mr Arndt said, which would come with cooler temperatures.
UPDATE 7.50am: A lightning bolt is believed responsible for breaking windows at an Eaglehawk home during last night’s storm.
The SES was called to the home when the kitchen windows smashed.
It is believed a lightning strike close by was the cause.
EARLIER: Plenty of Bendigo residents experienced a rude – and loud – awakening in the early hours of Tuesday morning, when a spectacular thunderstorm hit the city.
Houses were rattled by deafening cracks of thunder, as lightning sparked across the night sky.
Overnight to 6am Tuesday, 12.2 millimetres of rain fell in Bendigo.
There is a chance showers will continue in Bendigo and across much of central Victoria on Tuesday.
Bendigo and Redesdale are heading for a top of 16 degrees, Echuca 18, Maryborough and Castlemaine 15, and Kyneton 13.
