Thousands of properties lost power during a night of storms across Victoria, with more extreme heat and weather to come on Monday as temperatures climb towards 40 degrees.
The State Emergency Service responded to 740 calls for help in the 24 hours to 6am. About half were in Greater Geelong as a storm rolled through on Sunday evening, bringing flash flooding, hail and fierce winds that ripped the roof off at least one home.
Storms then rumbled across to Melbourne. Fire Rescue Victoria said a lightning strike possibly caused a house fire in Taylors Lakes that severely damaged a home around 1am.
The Bureau of Meteorology cancelled a severe thunderstorm warning just after 4am. It said Lara recorded 35.4 millimetres of rain in an hour and Point Wilson recorded a 109 km/h wind gust at 9.07pm.
More than 10,000 Victorians remained without power around 7am on Monday, most of which were within AusNet’s zone in eastern Victoria. Parts of Phillip Island and eastern Melbourne suburbs like Warrandyte and Hallam were affected.
In western Victoria, emergency warnings have been issued for Mirranatwa in the southern Grampians and the postcodes of Morea and Peronne near the Little Desert National Park as two bushfires burn out of control.
The Little Desert fire, which threatened the town of Dimboola last week, is now heading in a westerly direction towards Kaniva-Edenhope Road.
“This fire is threatening homes and lives,” the VicEmergency alert at 6am for Morea and Peronne said. “It is too late to leave the area safely so you must take shelter now.”
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