Melbourne Storms
Lightning is causing havoc across Melbourne’s transport system with Connex warning of major delays on most of its lines and two trams struck in the city’s east.
It was not known how many passengers were on board but both routes are used by students at that time of the day.
Yarra Trams said no-one was injured in the incidents, which occurred on Wattletree and Malvern roads.
Yarra Trams said this afternoon all tram routes were running late due to heavy traffic caused by the storms.
Meanwhile, Connex says 10 out of 15 lines have been affected by storm damage, leaving most services at least 20 minutes late, a Connex spokeswoman said.
Lightning strikes had caused signals to fail on the Sydenham and Upfield lines, with services delayed by half an hour.
Maintenance crews are scrambling to fix the damage but commuters are warned to brace for long delays approaching the peak travel period.
‘‘We’re just asking people to be patient,’’ spokeswoman Laney Harris said.
A train was struck by lightning at Sunshine, while lightning struck a signal box at Caulfield.
Buses have replaced trains between Box Hill and Ringwood after a tree fell over the track at Laburmum.
A number of boom gates are stuck down across the network due to an automatic failsafe triggered after equipment failure.
The Connex spokeswoman warned the boom gates would have a flow-on effect on traffic.
‘‘This has been a massive knock to the network and we’re working hard to recover,’’ she said.
V/Line’s 1.15pm service to Bendigo has been stopped by a fallen tree between Woodend and Sunbury. Crews were working to clear the line, a V/Line spokesman said.
Motorists have been warned to take care with traffic lights out or flashing across the state.
The State Emergency Service have been inundated with calls for assistance from around the state.
At 2.45pm, an SES spokesperson said: ‘‘We have received some 33 calls within the last half an hour, predominantly coming in from the Bendigo and Shepparton areas.’’
Most calls were reporting cases of either property damage or flooding, including a tree crashing through a house roof in outer-northeastern Eltham and flooded home in eastern suburban Blackburn.
Calls were also coming in from Melbourne’s outer eastern and western suburbs, the spokesperson said.
Greensborough Plaza shopping centre, in Melbourne’s outer northeast, has been flooded in a downpour and Metropolitan Fire Brigade crews trying to pump out a ‘‘large amount’’ of water, an MFB spokeswoman said.
The storm hit central Melbourne about 2.30pm after Victorians were warned to prepare for more wild weather with heavy rain, thunderstorms and strong winds across the state.
Melbourne’s temperature hit 30 degrees before the forecast severe thunder storms and heavy rain arrived.
A weather bureau spokesman said ‘‘temperatures will drop some seven to eight degrees during the storms, but will climb back up towards the high 20s once they have passed through’’.
High winds came with the heavy rain. ‘‘Winds are currently recorded as producing gusts of 50 km/h in the central Melbourne metropolitan area,’’ the spokesman said.
He warned winds could escalate as high as 70-80 km/h during the worst of the thunderstorms, with the potential to cause significant damage.
A highly unstable weather pattern from the north is bringing fast-moving and damaging storms, the bureau said.ys.
“Due to the very humid and tropical conditions currently being experienced across the state, heavy rain fall could develop quickly, the main worry being that localised flash flooding could occur within the CBD this afternoon,” a spokesman for the Bureau of Meteorology said.
Conditions were “so unstable” that thunderstorms are almost certain to develop later this afternoon, he said
These storms are expected to produce localised rainfalls in excess of 50 millimetres across the city this afternoon.
Last night, 30 millimetres of rain fell across the north-west of the state and resulted in extensive wind damage in the Mallee town of Woomelang, south of Ouyen.
The warm, unstable and very humid conditions look to have settled in for an extended stay.
“Temperatures aren’t expected to increase greatly however the muggy, tropical conditions will be in effect until the humidity levels drop on either Saturday night or early Sunday morning,” the spokesman said.
