Wild weather in Ballarat on Saturday night kept State Emergency Service crews busy.
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Ballarat SES volunteers attended nine requests for assistance in the Ballarat area, predominantly for fallen trees, deputy controller Craig Elliott said.
He said some fallen trees had caused a traffic hazard, while others had fallen on private property.
Wind speeds in Ballarat reached a maximum of 50km/h at 3.30pm and 8pm on Saturday, according to the Bureau of Meteorology.
Around 5.2mm of rain fell overnight
It is really important people drive to conditions.
- Craig Elliott, Ballarat SES
Mr Elliott warned residents weather can change suddenly at this time of year.
“This time of the year can be quite pronounced for sudden storm activity,” he said.
“It is really important people drive to conditions. At night time with drivers going around bends, trees across the road can pose quite a significant danger. When weather is expected to turn don’t park under trees, and if a tree has brought down a powerline, don’t go near it.
“Check gutters, check roofs and doing general maintenance around properties can makes things a lot easier when we do get a storm event and it might prevent you having to calling us out.
“This is a period where when there can be flooding as well. It is really important for people to not drive in flood waters and drive to conditions so they don’t get themselves into trouble.”
Two volunteer crews of about 10 people worked overnight in Ballarat.
Mr Elliott said there were about 25 requests for assistance in total within the mid west region.
Weather in Ballarat is expected to improve as the week progresses, with a maximum of 34 degrees forecast for Friday.