Greater Shepparton and its surrounds dealt with the fallout of extreme wind conditions on Monday morning.
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The early hours of Monday, September 2 saw wind speeds of up to 61 km/h and wind gusts of up to 87 km/h — both just after 4am — despite severe weather warnings over the weekend indicating Shepparton would be spared from most of the worst of the conditions battering the state.
Tree branches, rubbish bins — and trampolines — bore the brunt of the wind, while further damage is still being assessed.
As of 3pm, wind gusts were still reaching 69 km/h at the Shepparton Airport, having varied between 37-61 km/h for most of the day.
Powercor released a statement at 7.30am providing updates on the situation across the state.
“Powercor crews are working to restore power to 22,000 customers across western Victoria after destructive winds caused extensive damage to parts of the electricity network,” a Powercor spokesperson said.
“The fierce winds, including gusts up to 120 km/h, and storms have brought down trees and branches over power poles, wires and other infrastructure.
“Extra crews are responding to more than 239 individual jobs. The hardest-hit areas include Victoria’s southern region, the south-west coast, Geelong and the northern region including Shepparton.
“If people see a fallen power line, they should always stay more than 10m away from them and report them to us immediately on 13 24 12.
“Winds are forecast to increase again later this morning, and we’re urging people to take steps to prepare for power outages now.
“We will continue to keep people updated via SMS and the outage map.
“In some cases, the complexity and extent of network damage will mean it will take longer than usual to restore power to some customers. As our crews continue to assess the network, we will be able to provide further information about estimated restoration times.
“Over the past few days, we’ve been monitoring these extreme weather conditions and have extra crews, control room operators, customer centre representatives and other resources responding as we focus on getting power back on to our customers as safely and as quickly as possible.”
As of the 2.16pm update on the outages map, almost 7000 customers remained without power across the state.
In Greater Shepparton and its surrounds around 1000 homes remained without power, including in Toolamba (163), Invergordon (93), Katandra and Katandra West (71), Congupna (63), Katunga (59), Grahamvale (41) and Pine Lodge (39).
In Kyabram, 163 homes were also still without power.
Shepparton Search and Rescue were out responding to calls from around 4am, for most of the day.
A Department of Education spokesperson confirmed that all public schools in Greater Shepparton were open and operating.
Further north, a woman died in Moama after a tree fell on a cabin.
NSW Police were called to reports of a tree falling on a cabin in Merool Rd, Moama, about 3.50am.
Officers attached to Murray River Police District attended and found the body of a woman, aged 63, in the wreckage.
She is yet to be formally identified.
A man, aged 63, was treated at the scene by Victorian Ambulance paramedics for injuries to his right hand, and taken to Echuca Hospital for further treatment.
A report will be prepared for the Coroner.
Anyone with information about this incident is urged to contact Crime Stoppers: 1800 333 000 or https://nsw.crimestoppers.com.au
Information is treated in strict confidence. The public is reminded not to report information via NSW Police social media pages.
Shepparton News editor