Melbourne and many parts of country Victoria were cleaning up after a huge storm brought tornadoes, heavy rain and strong winds to the state on Thursday.
The Bureau of Meteorology in Victoria issued a severe warning after receiving three separate reports between 1.30pm and 2pm of tornadoes in the outer northern suburbs of Craigieburn, Tullamarine and Campbellfield.
Thunderstorms affected the CBD, Melbourne airport, St Albans, Sydenham and Williamstown by 2.20pm and northern Port Phillip Bay, waters off Brighton beach, waters off Point Cook and waters off Sandringham by 2.50pm.
It also brought havoc to the Spring racing carnival at Flemington racecourse where punters out in their thousands for Oaks Day were forced to shelter from the afternoon downpour.
In a two-hour period from 2pm, the state emergency service responded to about 200 calls for assistance, with the bulk of the calls coming from the CBD, the west and north-western suburbs of Footscray and Essendon, and the south-eastern bayside suburbs. A tram was also derailed.
People were advised to stay indoors and to avoid driving and fallen power lines. Most of the calls to the SES were to report minor building damage.
By 4pm the city was clear and sunny, with the weather and tornado rapidly tapering out.
In the early afternoon a pilot reported a funnel cloud coming into Melbourne airport, indicating the preliminary stages of a tornado forming. Three reports of tornadoes also came from Craigieburn, Tullamarine and Campbellfield.
“It sounds like there may have been more than one,” bureau forecaster Dean Stewart said.
However they occurred over farmland and away from housing and it did not appear any damage was caused by the tornadoes, he said.
Severe weather warnings remained in place for most Victorian districts and localised heavy rainfall was still expected with those thunderstorms, as the bureau continued to monitor storms in the north and north-west metro areas.
Central and northern Victoria were also experiencing severe weather but the BoM said weakening low pressure system over south-west Victoria would gradually drift across the east of the state on Thursday night.
A wind warning was issued for the east and central Gippsland coasts.
The state emergency service (SES) said rainfall run-off into waterways in recent fire-affected areas may contain debris such as soil, ash, trees and rocks. People in fire-affected areas should also be alert to the potential for landslide and debris across roads.
The SES advised people to keep clear of fallen power lines, not drive, ride or walk through flood water, keep clear of creeks and storm drains, and beware of fallen trees or debris on the road.
