THE Wimmera was hit with a thunderstorm on Sunday, which brought heavy rain, lightning and power outages.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
The Bureau of Meteorology issued a severe thunderstorm warning – forecasting damaging winds, heavy rainfall and large hailstones.
The Bureau of Meteorology figures recorded that Horsham received 8.8mm, Edenhope 7.2mm, Stawell 12mm, Ararat 10mm, Nhill 4.8mm, Dimboola 3.8mm, Warracknabeal 3.4mm and Hopetoun 1.8mm.
Country Fire Authority District 17 operations manager Craig Brittain said the authority responded to a number of fires caused by lightning striking trees.
Mr Brittain said the fires were widespread – from Telopea Downs down to Harrow.
“There were a number of fires yesterday, but it was fairly low – we’re talking single figures,” he said. “The fires were reported and responded quickly.”
Mr Brittain said the rain helped the brigades extinguish the fires with ease.
The storm activity also left many Wimmera residents without power.
A Powercor spokeswoman said crews responded to multiple power outages after a severe storm swept through the region.
Horsham – one of the hardest hit areas – had 2000 customers without power.
A Powercor outage map showed that the power outages were widespread.
Residents of Ararat, Kewell, Minyip, Murtoa, Dooen, Goroke, Pimpinio, Rupanyup, Kalkee were just some of the residents without power.
The spokeswoman said the majority of the outages were caused by lightning strikes.
“Crews are continuing work this morning to safely get power back on to the remaining 12 customers (in Horsham) and we thank them for their patience,” she said.
- Share your rain photos with us through our Facebook page, by tagging us on Instagram @wimmeramailtimes or tweeting us @Wim_Mail_Times.
While you’re with us, you can now receive updates straight to your inbox twice weekly from the Wimmera Mail-Times. To make sure you’re up-to-date with all the news from across the Wimmera, sign up below.