Power has been cut to more than 22,000 homes and businesses in Victoria after wild winds lashed the south west of the state on their way towards Melbourne.
Key points:
- Thousands of homes are without power in Victoria after wild storms
- Two houses have been damaged by a fallen tree at Koroit
- Emergency crews have responded to more than 250 calls for help
Widespread damage has been reported with more than 250 calls for help to the State Emergency Service after winds of more than 100 kilometres per hour crossed the south west.
Port Fairy SES controller Stephen McDowell said the calls started coming in at 4.30am and had been consistent ever since from as far south as Camperdown right through to the South Australian border.
He said the biggest damage reported had been in the small town of Koroit, 18 kilometres north west of Warrnambool.
"We've just been to a large tree in Koroit that is down over two houses," he said.
"And we're trying to clear trees off roads as our main priority to keep the road system open."
Huge surf
The Bureau of Meteorology said Victoria was being battered by one of the strongest cold fronts to hit the state this winter with gusts of 137 kilometres per hour at Mount Hotham and more than 90 kilometres per hour at Portland.
The ocean is also pounding.
Swells of more than nine metres were reported at Port Fairy, eight metres at Portland and six metres at Warrnambool.
Loading...Severe weather warnings are in place for large parts of the state and low-level snow is also forecast, with hail possible in the north.
Senior forecaster Jackson Browne said the rough conditions would persist throughout the day.
"It will be quite a dangerous day to be anywhere near the coastal environment, and with those elevated winds just asking people to practice a little bit of elevated caution as we move through the next 12 to 24 hours," he said.
Gusts of up to 110 kilometres per hour could be felt between Colac, Geelong and Bacchus Marsh and also the Mornington Peninsula until until mid-afternoon.
SES state duty officer Andrew Fagan said Victorians should monitor their situation, and ring 132 500 for SES assistance if needed.
"The current predictions are still saying it'll hit Melbourne at around that late morning/early afternoon time."
Power outages prolonged
PowerCor spokesman Jordan Oliver said it could take most of the day to restore electricity to 18,000 homes and businesses.
"This could potentially be a prolonged event. We do have an estimated restoration time of 4.30pm," he said.
There's quite a lot of debris on the road, trees down."