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NationalVictoriaWeather

Victoria weather as it happened: Delays at Melbourne airport after deluge, widespread power outages, building damage, roads flooded; Person escapes injury after tree falls on car in Bendigo

Alexander Darling
Updated ,first published

Key Posts

Tree falls on car in Bendigo while person inside
Fresh emergency warning for central Victoria
What we covered today
Calls for help to SES near 200
‘One millimetre per minute’: The latest from the BOM, energy companies
New emergency warning for eastern Melbourne, regional Victoria also on alert
Melbourne Airport to face delays throughout the afternoon
Emergency warning lifts for city, northern suburbs
Emergency warning moves further east
The latest on transport disruptions

The long tail of Victoria’s bushfires

By Nick Wilson, William Ton, Robyn Wuth and Alannah Sciberras

Emergency services have issued a warning for towns affected by the bushfires of the past two months as the rain continues to fall: burnt land does not absorb water effectively, meaning run-off can occur quickly and without warning.

“We’ve got some concerns, particularly around the fire grounds with increased fast run-off and flash-flooding risks,” said State Control Centre spokesperson Josh Gamble.

The aftermath of the Victorian bushfires in Longwood, Victoria.© Paul Hilton / Earth Tree Images

A flood watch was in place for central and eastern Victoria on Tuesday afternoon, including for river catchments in the Melbourne area such as the Maribyrnong and Werribee.

The drenching in the south came as Australia’s parched interior braced for wild weather from a storm band lingering over the nation’s usually dry heart.

Thousands remain without power

By Alexander Darling

We’re starting to see more power outages in regional Victoria, with dozens of lightning strikes being recorded over the state’s central and eastern areas.

About 8000 properties are without power across Powercor and Ausnet’s distribution networks, including 1200 in the inner Bendigo suburb of White Hills.

In Melbourne, about 600 properties remain without power. Malvern East, Alphington, Thornbury and Carnegie are the most affected suburbs.

The Emergency warning for Seymour, Castlemaine, Kyneton, Kilmore and surrounds has been cancelled.

Tree falls on car in Bendigo while person inside

By Alexander Darling

The State Emergency Service has confirmed the number of calls for help its volunteers have responded to today has reached 250.

Among them was a rescue in the Bendigo suburb of Epsom at 6.30pm, after a tree fell on a vehicle while a person was inside.

A car drives through floodwater in Kensington, Melbourne, earlier today.Paul Rovere

We are seeking more information from police and paramedics on this incident.

The storm activity in central Victoria has made Bendigo’s SES unit the busiest in the state today. Its volunteers have responded to 32 requests for help. The busiest unit in Melbourne was Heidelberg, with 22 callouts.

Statewide there have been 87 buildings damaged, another 77 flooded and 45 trees down as a result of today’s storms.

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Heavy rain forecast for major towns

By Alexander Darling

While people in the Castlemaine and Seymour areas are being urged to shelter indoors from the rain, those areas are far from the only ones likely to be drenched tonight.

Authorities say heavy rainfall that may lead to flash flooding is likely over the next several hours across northern Victoria, including in Shepparton, Wangaratta, Echuca, Euroa, Yarrawonga, Mildura, Hattah and Robinvale.

For these areas, the advice is as follows:

  • Park your car undercover and away from trees.
  • Stay inside if conditions outside appear dangerous.
  • Contact family members and neighbours to ensure they are aware of the situation, if safe to do so.

Fresh emergency warning for central Victoria

By Alexander Darling

Good evening, welcome back to the live blog. We’ve reopened this as the weather remains serious over parts of Victoria. Here is the latest from emergency services:

The Bureau of Meteorology has issued a severe thunderstorm warning for Seymour, Castlemaine, Kyneton, Kilmore and surrounds.

  • Intense rainfall that may lead to dangerous and life-threatening flash flooding is likely over the next several hours.
  • Damaging winds are also likely.
  • These thunderstorms are dangerous.

If you are in Seymour, Castlemaine, Kyneton, Kilmore or surrounds, you are in danger. You should immediately move indoors to stay safe.

The warning area stops just north of Gisborne, which received 31 millimetres of rain in an hour during today’s earlier storms.

Meanwhile, Bendigo received 28 millimetres of rain in just 40 minutes before 7pm, continuing today’s trend of localised deluges.

What we covered today

By Alexander Darling

Thanks for joining us this afternoon. Here’s a wrap-up of the impact of the storms:

  • As of 6pm, the storm cell has generated 220 calls for assistance to the State Emergency Service.
  • Heidelberg, Craigieburn, Fawkner, Gisborne and Knox are among the areas hardest hit.
  • The calls for help relate to a mix of building damage and flooding, as well as trees down over roads.
  • Heavy rainfall is continuing in Gippsland, and another storm cell is coming from the state’s north-west towards Broadford.

  • The State Control Centre’s Josh Gamble said on the ABC: “We’re still asking the community to stay indoors and monitor those warnings, but also be conscious that the rain that’s in [the storms] could become intense and create flash flooding as well.”

And here are the latest rainfall totals from the Bureau of Meteorology:

  • Springhill Road (north of Trentham): 38.4mm (in one hour and 15 minutes)
  • Dohertys (south-east of Eildon): 34.4mm
  • Gisborne: 32.8mm (31.6mm of this fell in one hour)
  • Glencairn (north of Licola): 31.2mm (25mm of this fell in 18 minutes)
  • Melbourne Airport 21.4mm (20mm of this fell in 23 minutes)
  • Broadmeadows: 21.4mm (17.8mm of this fell in 20 minutes)
  • Mount Buffalo: 21mm
  • Strathbogie: 20.4mm
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SES still responding to dozens of calls

By Alexander Darling

Dozens of SES volunteers remain out and about across Melbourne in the aftermath of this afternoon’s storms.

The service has confirmed it’s responded to 142 callouts related to the downpours, and 85 of them are yet to be resolved.

SES workers were out blocking flooded roads earlier this afternoon, before attention turned to recovery.Simon Schluter

Heidelberg, Heidelberg Heights, Craigieburn, Reservoir and Gisborne were the areas hardest hit.

The threat of storms is now moving further east, although flooding is possible for many rivers across Victoria from tomorrow morning as the rain that fell today makes its way through our catchment systems.

The areas that had the biggest downpours

By

North-east Victoria: 26.8 mm was recorded at Macalister River (Glencairn) in 30 minutes.

Melbourne Airport: 17.2mm in 18 minutes after 2pm.

Trentham: 26mm in 90 minutes after 12.50pm.

Ferny Creek: 13.4mm in 30 minutes after 3pm.

Viewbank: 11.6mm between 2.41pm and 3.30pm.

Upfield line resuming

By

Trains on the Upfield line are resuming between Batman and Upfield following an equipment fault.

Passengers are asked to check station platform displays, listen for announcements, and to allow extra time as trains get back into position for this afternoon’s peak.

Here’s a quick update on the transport situation elsewhere.

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Calls for help to SES near 200

By Alexander Darling

Josh Gamble from the State Control Centre says the number of calls for help to the SES continues to rise, as storms remain active in south-east Melbourne.

Gamble told ABC Melbourne radio that SES volunteers are active in Reservoir, Craigieburn, Gisborne, Pakenham and Heidelberg, as well as in Wodonga, on the NSW border.

“If you look at the last hour or two, we’ve had 32 to 38 [millimetres] in roughly an hour in some of those suburbs,” he said.

“We’ve had 190 requests for assistance today, and that’s from midnight, with 70 active now.”

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