UPDATE, Monday 9am:
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Almost 8,000 homes remain without power in a band reaching from the south -east coast to central Victoria as the SES struggle to deal with hundreds of call-outs.
Dozens of homes in Ballarat still remain without power as wild winds lashed the region overnight bringing down wires and trees.
At its peak the stormy weather disconnected 20,000 homes in a band reaching from Ocean Grove to Bendigo.
SES units were called to 700 emergency callouts across the region; most relating to trees down and flood rescues as winds reached 75km/h and almost 50mm of rain fell in Ballarat on Sunday.
The latest update of power outages at 9am:
- Millbrook 66
- Lal Lal 65
- Bungaree 19
- Wallace 13
- Mount Egerton
- Delacombe 51
- Creswick 206
- Talbot 270
- Red Lion 66
- Mount Glasgow 55
- Amherst 29
- Dunach 24
- Burnbank 6
- Evansford 6
- Caralulup 5
- Stony Creek (Talbot) 3
- Ascot (Ballarat) 11
UPDATE, Monday, 7am:
There are still dozens of homes without power in the Ballarat region, although most homes within the city itself appear to have been restored.
Hundreds of homes in Creswick are still without power, according to the Powercor website, and are expected to be restored by midday.
The list below are the current outages around Ballarat:
- Ascot – 11 homes withut power
- Amphitheatre - 26
- Bungaree – 19
- Creswick – 206
- Delacombe – 1
- Gordon 20
- Lal Lal – 65
- Millbrook – 80
- Mt Egerton – 17
- Mt Lonarch – 28
- Talbot – 270
- Wallace – 13
Ballarat has received 47.4 mm of rain since 9am Sunday, making it 57.2mm for the entire weekend.
Ballarat usually averages just 51.3mm of rain for the entire month of April.
The strongest wind gust recorded was 76km/h at 5.58 pm on Sunday.
The worst seems to be behind Ballarat now, however.
The severe weather warning is still in place, but only for the eastern part of Victoria.
UPDATE, 9.30pm
While power has been restored for many residents in the Ballarat region, some will remain without electricity until at least 1am.
PowerCor has listed storm damage as the reason for power outages in the following areas:
- Dereel – 247 houses without power
- Durham Lead – 133 houses without power
- Corindhap – 77 houses without power
- Mount Mercer – 59 houses without power
- Grenville – 49 houses without power
- Garibaldi – 47 houses without power
- Enfield – 4 houses without power
- Scotchmans Lead – 2 houses without power
- Sulky – 96 houses without power
- Mount Rowan – 26 houses without power
- Invermay – 25 houses without power
- Miners Rest – 23 houses without power
- Millbrook – 66 houses without power
- Lal Lal – 65 houses without power
- Bungaree – 19 houses without power
- Wallace – 13 houses without power
- Mount Egerton – 5 houses without power
ESTIMATED TIME OF RESTORATION: 1am
- Sebastopol – 67 houses without power
- Delacombe – 51 houses without power
ESTIMATED TIME OF RESTORATION: 11.30pm
EARLIER
Thousands of Ballarat residents have been plunged into darkness with mass power outages affecting homes across the city.
SES workers have received more than 304 calls for help since 4.30pm and by 6.30pm had more than 160 active jobs.
A spokeswoman said workers were currently responding to more than one call a minute.
As of 6.30pm Ballarat had experienced 33.4 mm of rain. The city could have up to 50mm.
Suburbs with power outages include: Canadian, Mount Clear, Ballarat Central, Mount Helen, Sebastopol, Mount Pleasant, Ballarat East, Golden Point and Wendouree.
Canadian and Mount Clear are the hardest hit.
SEE FULL COVERAGE BELOW
OUTAGES:
- Canadian – 1431 homes without power
- Mount Clear- 1385 homes without power
- Ballarat Central – 109 homes without power
- Mount Helen – 551 homes without power
- Redan- 434 homes without power
- Mount Pleasant – 409 homes without power
- Golden Point (Ballarat) – 29 homes without power
- Ballarat East – 73 homes without power
POWER TO BE RESTORED: 8pm
- - Wendouree 80 homes without power
POWER TO BE RESTORED: 10.30pm
CRESWICK OUTAGES:
- Creswick- 1612 homes without power
- Creswick North- 17 homes without power
- Dean- 10 homes without power
POWER TO BE RESTORED: 10.30pm
SES RESPONSE:
SES workers are responding to more than one job a minute and have had more than 300 calls for help 4.30pm.
A spokeswoman said workers had been called to reports of power lines down, tiles blowing off rooves, rooves blowing off sheds and flooding.
She said Ballarat was currently experiencing the brunt of the wild weather which had moved through Colac and Port Campbell.
WILD WEATHER TO CONTINUE:
The Bureau of Meterology has issued a severe weather warning for damaging winds and heavy rainfall.
A strong cold front is currently clearing the far east of the state, while an associated low pressure system over central parts of Bass Strait is forecast to move to the northeast this evening.
A second low pressure system is forecast to develop in eastern Bass Strait overnight.
What can you expect?
Damaging winds averaging 60 to 70 km/h with peak gusts to 110 km/h will continue across southern and southeastern parts of the southwest district and adjacent parts of the central district.
They will extend to the north central district during the evening. Winds are expected to ease from the west overnight Sunday into Monday.
Heavy which may lead to flash flooding is possible across eastern and coastal parts of central and north central districts during the remainder of Sunday into Monday morning.
What the experts say:
A severe weather warning was issued late Sunday for much of the state, including Ballarat, with damaging winds, heavy rainfall and potential flash flooding expected.
“The main rains are expected to be on Sunday evening and on the early hours of Monday morning,” Bureau of Meteorology senior forecaster Richard Carlyon said.
By mid-Monday the rain is expected to ease and move toward Gippsland, however on and off showers are still predicted.
Mr Carlyon said a strong low pressure system moving through the bass strait was driving the rain up through Otways and then moving towards Ballarat.
It is predicted Ballarat’s average April rainfall of 51mm could fall in nearly 24 hours with between 25-50 mm predicted overnight on Sunday . Mr Carlyon said the rain occurred after a relatively dry start to April where only 9mm of rain was recorded up until Sunday.