Victorians could be left without power for “days, if not weeks,” after a massive storm pulled down power lines and caused generators to fail in Victoria.
A severe thunderstorm pushed over the state on Tuesday afternoon bringing powerful wind gusts, lightning and golf ball size hail wrecking havoc on homes and businesses.
More than 500,000 homes and businesses were left without power at the storms peak though crews worked to hard overnight to restore power to thousands on the states’ electricity network.
As of 11.15pm, Energy Minister Lily D’Ambrosio said about 375,000 were still without power as crews battled fallen trees and challenging weather conditions to repair damage.
“Given the extent of the widespread damage, it may take days if not weeks to restore electricity to all of those impacted,” a Department of Energy, Environment and Climate Action (DEECA) spokesperson posted to X.Hundreds of power poles and lines were pulled down across the state, including six transmission towers near Anakie that physically collapsed in the wild weather.
The damage was so significant that Loy A Yang power station tripped and was disconnected from the grid, leading the Australian Energy Market Operator to cut load shed to relieve stress on remaining power stations.
However, this was cancelled soon after, and all 90,000 customers impacted by this have had their power restored.
Residents are being warned not to approach fallen power lines and instead call the faults and emergency number for their electricity distribution company, which can be found on their electricity bill.
Elsewhere, in the west of the state, an out-of-control bushfire in the Grampians National Park destroyed up to 30 properties including the town’s historical church.
Five volunteer firefighters sustained minor injuries while working to contain the fire at Pomonal, after their vehicle was involved in a burnover.
This is when a fire moves over crews who have no time to get out of the way.