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A complicated power outage issue has seen 94 customers in Strathdale without power since yesterday.
A Powercor spokeswoman said the issue of a branch falling on a high-voltage power line, which then fell on a low voltage line, was a complex issues for staff to rectify.
Power is expected to be restored by 5.30pm.
Power has also been restored to nearly 500 customers in the Elmore area.
The Bendigo SES has had a quieter day than Tuesday with five call outs since 5am this morning.
All five call outs related to trees down with three causing traffic hazards.
1.00pm
The SES might have finished its work following Tuesday’s storm but for the City of Greater Bendigo it is just beginning.
The council’s manager of works Adrian Gasperoni has encouraged the public to continue reporting branches and trees down, saying it will help crews clearing hazards.
Staff have spent the day conducting reconnaissance to gauge the size of the clean-up operation ahead, though it may not be until the end of the week that they have a full picture of the damage.
Yesterday over 100 calls came in from members of the public reporting trees or branches over roads and work on some at those sites had already begun.
Yet there are lots of areas the council may not have had reports about but where trees or branches may need to be dealt with, especially over roads and anything posing a safety hazard in public spaces.
Meanwhile, Natalie Stanway from the Bendigo SES says crews completed all their jobs last night and were looking forward to a rest, or at least returning to their normal jobs and lives.
11.45am
SEVERAL people remain without power after Tuesday’s wild weather.
A fault at Reservoir Road in Kennington is affecting 94 Powercor customers in Kennington and Strathdale.
A planned outage is affecting a further 34 households in Strathdale.
Storm activity caused a fault in Burnewang Street in Elmore. This is affecting 486 households in Elmore, 29 in Runnymede, 21 in Burnewang, and 15 in Hunter.
Seven customers in Diggora, four in Colbinabbin and three in Burramboot are also affected by an Elmore fault.
Elsewhere, 14 people across Bears Lagoon, Borung and Kinypanial are affected by a fault on Old Boort Road in Bears Lagoon.
Meanwhile, a bridge in Strathfieldsaye is looking worse for wear after Tuesday’s storms.
A side rail has come away and branches cover the bridge.
The bridge is on a walking track between the Imagine Estate and St Francis Of The Fields Primary School.
6.45am
Many people are waking to no power this morning in Bendigo and the Elmore area.
In the storm’s wake SES volunteers worked into the night.
The SES Bendigo unit is reporting on Facebook that there were over 60 jobs tackled by five SES units, a number of CFA brigades and council teams.
At least one trampoline ended up on a neighbours roof and there were many cars under trees and other debris left in the storm’s wake.
The last volunteer left the Bendigo shed just after midnight.
In Marong, most requests for assistance have now been cleared, the local unit posted on Facebook.
Some people remain without power in Bendigo after a tree came down. Powercor says 94 Strathdale and Kennington customers are affected.
At this stage they are estimated to get their power back by 9.30am.
Powercor is also reporting some customers outside of Bendigo remain without power following the storm:
- Elmore: 486
- Runnymede: 29
- Burnewang: 21
- Hunter: 15
- Colbinabbin: 4
- Burramboot: 3
They may have to wait until 9.30pm for power to be restored.
A handful of customers in Diggora and Bamawm will also have to wait after lightning and storm activity affected the power supply.
A fault affecting a handful of customers in Bagshot and Wellsford is under investigation and expected to be resolved by 9am.
Update 10pm: Shout out to all emergency services tonight, particularly the SES.
Crews from across Central Victoria have joined Bendigo SES to help with storm damage during the night.
The SES has this evening posted to social media, saying crews are ‘working hard into the night with members still attending requests for assistance, replenishing and maintaining equipment, organising catering, completing reports, monitoring communications’.
They are continuing to task and prioritise outstanding jobs.
Power has been restored in most areas, but some properties are still affected by outages.
Here’s where you can find the full outage list.
Update 5.10pm: The SES has received more than 50 requests for assistance, including a dozen reports of building damage.
Most damage occurred to vehicles and fences, and several roof repairs are required.
They expect more reports as people arrive home from work.
The SES has reminded people to phone 132 500 if they require assistance.
Update 4.55 pm: Not great news for those who parked in central Bendigo this afternoon, with multiple reports of damage.
Update 4.50pm: Crossing supervisor Marie Rathgeber was glad she didn't start her Reservoir Road shift early on Tuesday afternoon.
Lightning struck the place she normally stands only minutes before her arrived, resulting in a large tree branch falling across Reservoir Road.
"You get to know the people in the neighbourhood pretty well through this job," she said.
"One neighbour came out to say lightning had struck where I stand every day. I was so lucky, I'm still shaking thinking about it.
"Another called to let me know the branch was down.
Ms Rathgeber removed as many branches as she could from the road and called council to help remove what she couldn't.
"It's part of the job, to be here and help the community," she said.
Ms Rathgeber has been a crossing supervisor for almost eight years and supervised the Reservoir Road crossing for two years.
Update 4:30pm: It was a “scary” four minutes for the Connelly family at Junortoun when the windstorm howled through, ripping off their verandah and blowing down trees.
Read the full story here
Update 4.25pm: A tree has fallen on power lines on Williamson Street, near the intersection with Havlin Street East.
The tree is resting on the lines and crews are investigating ways to address the situation.
A number of branches have also fallen in front of a health complex on Havlin Street East.
Summary so far:
- Storm blows through central Victoria just before 3pm, causing power lines and trees to fall, damaging property
- Power is cut to at least 5000 properties, from Maryborough to Elmore, including large areas of Bendigo
- SES crews attend dozens of callouts, and urge people to call 132 500 to report issues
- Flash flooding is reported in Rochester
- Crews investigate multiple incidents of damaged power lines with the majority of damage reported in Kennington, Strathdale, White Hills and East Bendigo
Off air: Phoenix FM went off the air for more than an hour this afternoon after the storm took out the station's power supply.
From 3pm until just after 4pm, listeners were greeted with silence until a generator could be delivered to the site on Reservoir Road in Kennington.
Presenter Val Hogan said a branch also fell in front of the building, narrowly missing cars.
"There was an electrical blackout that caused the whole lot to shut down," she said.
"Everything needed to be rebooted after that."
Update 4.15pm: Power outages have spread throughout central Victoria with up to 6000 properties without power from Maryborough to Elmore, including large parts of Bendigo.
Damaged power lines are believed to be the cause of the outages after a storm swept through the region this afternoon.
In Bendigo, the areas of Kennington, Strathdale and East Bendigo remain the hardest hit and power is yet to be restored.
Almost 500 properties in Elmore also without power, and 234 in Goornong.
Update 3.55pm: A sets of power lines has fallen on Condon Street and another is hanging low on Edwards Road in Kennington.
Traffic on Edwards Road – in the La Trobe University to Condon Street direction – has been reduced to one lane while CFA crews secure the area.
Traffic lights are also out at the intersection of Edwards Road and Reservoir Road, and police are yet to arrive at the scene to direct traffic.
Update 3.45pm: Trees have fallen across railway lines in Bendigo, causing changes to V/Line services.
A Melbourne-bound Swan Hill service has been altered due to boom gate damage on Williamson Street, V/Line has confirmed, as it is currently at Eaglehawk.
The SES is urging residents to call 132 500 to report incidents as they attempt to respond to at least 40 call outs across Bendigo.
Natalie Stanway, of Bendigo SES, said they were attending vehicle and property damage, fallen power lines and a large number of fallen trees.
“We are finding that people are trying to call the regional office but they really need to be reporting to the call centre on 132 500,” she said.
“This is so we can get information as quickly as possible.
“With school pickup occurring, we also urge people to take extreme care on the roads because we don’t want to be attending motor vehicles accidents with so many callouts at the moment.”
Update 3.20pm: The SES is attending at least 40 callouts across Bendigo as a storm lashes the region.
The majority of the calls are for fallen trees, with reports of trees falling on cars and buildings.
Power lines have also been brought down in White Hills and power is out to more than 5000 premises.
A tree has also fallen across power lines near Mundy Street.
Update 3.10pm
Wild weather has swept across Bendigo causing widespread power outages and fallen trees.
Boom gates are also down on Williamson Street.
According to Powercor, outages are affecting the following number of properties:
- 1494 in Strathdale
- 1483 in Kennington
- 961 in East Bendigo
- 231 in Quarry Hill
- 169 in Bendigo
- 160 in Flora Hill
Update 2:17pm
Reports are coming in that strong winds have hit the Kerang area, with a shade sail at the Kerang Christian College being ripped off around 2pm.
Dee Slater, who works at the college, said the windstorm came in with a sharp burst out of the blue and it looked like it could be set for a repeat.
She said that it ripped off the shade sail which was protecting a children’s playground at the school
Do you have photos of the storm? Email them to addynews@fairfaxmedia.com.au.
Update: 1.30pm A severe thunderstorm warning has been issued with heavy rainfall, large hailstones and damaging winds predicted for areas north of Bendigo to the Murray River.
A warning area has been issued from Swan Hill west to mid-way between Echuca and Wodonga, and south just past Bendigo and Seymour
The Bureau of Meteorology said severe thunderstorms are likely to produce heavy rainfall that may also lead to flash flooding in the warning area in the next several hours.
Locations which may be affected include Swan Hill, Kerang, Bendigo, Echuca, Shepparton and Seymour.
The State Emergency Service advises that people should:
* Move vehicles under cover or away from trees.
* Secure or put away loose items around your house, yard and balcony.
* Keep clear of fallen power lines.
* Keep clear of creeks and storm drains.
* Don't drive, ride or walk through flood water.
* Be aware that in fire affected areas, rainfall run-off into waterways may contain debris such as ash, soil, trees and rocks.
* Be alert that in areas recently affected by fires, heavy rainfall increases the potential for landslides and debris across roads.
* Stay indoors if possible.
* Avoid using the phone during the storm.
* If you are outside, avoid sheltering under trees
* Listen to the radio for storm updates
* Switch off your computer and electrical appliances
Tuesday, 10:30am: If you had a restless night due to heat, here may be why. The temperature dropped to just 20.6C in Bendigo overnight on Monday. On Tuesday in central Victoria there is a high chance of showers and storms during the afternoon and evening. Winds northeasterly 20 to 25 km/h tending northwest to northeasterly 15 to 25 km/h in the middle of the day then tending westerly 15 to 20 km/h in the evening.
Fire danger remains high. Grass pollen counts remain high in the area.
Thunderstorm asthma
Update: 12.30: The thunderstorm asthma warning has been cancelled for this area.
Earlier: 10.30 am A moderate epidemic thunderstorm asthma warning has been issued for the Northern Country, North Central and Central Districst in Victoria ahead of the front moving across the state.
Forecasts are not a formal 'warning' and do not mean an epidemic thunderstorm asthma event is certain to occur, rather they are designed to inform people at risk that they should be prepared.
The forecasting system is also not designed to forecast the risk of individual’s suffering asthma and hay fever symptoms, which occur every year during the grass pollen season.
Those at increased risk should:
- avoid exposure to any storms that may emerge, especially the wind gusts that precede them
- have a reliever appropriately available (as discussed with your doctor or pharmacist)
- remind themselves of their asthma action plan and asthma first aid.
Earlier: Storms are expected to roll in across central Victoria on Wednesday, bringing up to 30mm of rain in some areas, after a humid, sticky few days.
The Bureau of Meteorology said it will be part of a volatile week of late Spring weather which will see daytime temperatures fall from high 20s early in the week to mid-teens on Thursday and Friday.
Snow is being predicted for alpine areas on Thursday.
The BOM has said that central Victoria east of a line drawn from Swan Hill to Cape Otway is expected to receive rainfall of between 5 and 30mm on Tuesday and early Wednesday, with the possibility of storm warnings being issued.
Senior Meteorologist, Chris Godfred, said that it would be a stuffy night in parts of the state on Tuesday due to cloud cover, with the water-heavy air mass contributing to the expected heavy rainfall figures.
“Central Victoria is at risk of thunderstorms developing east of a trough moving slowly across the state, Mr Godfred said.
He said areas which received showers could expect between 5-15m in rainfall, but those hit by the storm front could have up to 30mm.
Mr Godfred said on Thursday there would be a “switcheroo” as a cold air slams into Victoria, with further sporadic thunderstorms, hail and snow about the alps predicted.
Overnight temperatures in Bendigo are expected to dip to 5C on Thursday, with Castlemaine predicted to drop to 4C. Daytime temperatures are only expected to reach between 14C and 16C.
The weather should return to being fine, with temperatures in the early 20s, by the election day on Saturday.
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