SES spokeswoman Jilly Charlwood said it was “quiet in Ballarat”, especially when compared to Melbourne.

“There were six calls for assistance; three were of building damage due to the wind,” Ms Charlwood said. “Two calls were about loose roof tiles and one was about a detached sign from a service station.”

The wind also brought down three trees in Brown Hill, she said. “One of the trees came down over the road at Magpie Road,” Ms Charlwood said. “We had a tree down in a backyard which damaged some plants and a fence. (In another incident) a branch fell down over someone’s driveway.”

The Ballarat SES unit, she said, attended to all of the calls. However, Melbourne did not prove to be so lucky with just under 1200 calls for assistance in the central region, which includes metropolitan Melbourne and the outer suburbs.

Weatherzone meteorologist Willemien Phelan said Ballarat experienced strong winds of up to 69km/h yesterday.

“There was strong northerly winds in the morning ahead of a trough, gusting up to 69km/hour,” Ms Phelan said.

“Today (Monday) westerly wind will gradually turn southerly but it won’t be as strong as yesterday.”

Meanwhile, Ambulance Victoria said several people were injured in Melbourne in yesterday’s high winds. Thousands of homes and businesses were blacked out as severe winds and heavy rain lashed the city, forcing down power lines and blocking roads with fallen trees.