Victorian storms: Farmer killed by flying debris during wild storms that left 500,000 households without power
A dairy farmer is dead and hundreds of thousands of homes and businesses are without power after devastating storms in Victoria.
Prime Minister Jacinta Allan confirmed on Wednesday that the farmer in his 50s had died after being struck by flying debris in Mirboo North, Gippsland.
Ms Allan sent her condolences to the man’s family and described the wild weather as ‘catastrophic’ after it caused significant damage across the state.
High winds and falling trees have downed power lines and knocked out power to more than half a million homes.
It’s one of the biggest power outages in Victorian history and it could happen takes weeks to fully recover.
A dairy farmer in his 50s has died after being struck by flying debris during wild storms in the Gippsland region during wild storms that battered the state (pictured)
Hundreds of power poles and lines were downed and six transmission towers near Anakie collapsed on Tuesday, knocking all four units of the Loy Yang A power station offline.
At its peak, 529,000 properties were without power due to damage from storms, high winds and lightning.
That number had fallen to around 250,000 by Wednesday morning, but the Department of Energy, Environment and Climate Action warned that progress could be slow.
“Crews are actively working to restore power to these affected areas,” the department said.
“However, given the extent of the widespread damage, it could take days, if not weeks, for electricity to be restored to all those affected.”
More to come.