A series of bushfires have hit parts of western Victoria, while the eastern half of the state was lashed by damaging storms, leaving half a million people without power.
Two fires near The Grampians National Park caused the communities in and around Pomonal to activate the fire survival plans on Tuesday afternoon, while similar emergency warnings were issued for a second fire near Dadswell Bridge.
The fires caused warnings to communities including Roses Gap, Dadswells Bridge and Ledcourt to the north of the national park, and Bellfield Settlement, Lake Fyans, Bellfield, Halls Gap, Pomonal and Mokepilly to the east.
A third fire at Newton, near Ballarat, also prompted an evacuation warning.
Meanwhile, strong winds and large hail caused widespread damage in parts of eastern Victoria on Tuesday afternoon, bringing down power lines and causing a series of fires across parts of Melbourne and Gippsland as a result of lightning.
The State Emergency Service said it responded to more than 3000 calls overnight on Tuesday as a result of the weather event, which brought with it gale winds of more than 100 kilometres an hour in some elevated parts of the state.
More than 300,000 Victorians were without power on Wednesday, with Powercor warning it could take weeks to restore.
Electricity pylons were toppled at Anakie near Geelong after a severe storm swept through the state on Tuesday, while four generators at Victoria's largest coal-fired power station, Loy Yang A in the Latrobe Valley, remained offline.
The outage also caused trouble for Ambulance Victoria which warned people may not be able to get through to Triple Zero, with people urged to drive to their nearest hospital ED.
Bryce Eishold
Bryce is a senior journalist with Australian Community Media's Stock & Land where he reports on all aspects of agriculture. Bryce is also the president of the Rural Press Club of Victoria. Email Bryce at bryce.eishold@stockandland.com.au.
Bryce is a senior journalist with Australian Community Media's Stock & Land where he reports on all aspects of agriculture. Bryce is also the president of the Rural Press Club of Victoria. Email Bryce at bryce.eishold@stockandland.com.au.
