Victoria storms: farmer killed, homes lost in fires and power outages for hundreds of thousands across state

A dairy farmer is dead, homes have been lost and nearly 135,000 customers remain without power after bushfires and storms ravaged Victoria.

The Victorian premier, Jacinta Allan, confirmed a 50-year-old man died when storms hit the South Gippsland region, in the state’s east, on Tuesday night. She expressed her condolences to his family and first responders.

The 50-year-old was found dead at a Darlimurla property. WorkSafe Victoria is investigating the incident.

“The death is the second confirmed workplace fatality for 2024. There were nine work-related deaths at the same time last year,” they said.

Police said the man was working on the property when he was struck by debris. They said they would prepare a report for the coroner.

It came as bushfires burn in western Victoria, where authorities were trying to confirm how many homes have been lost, and electricity outages continue in parts of the state.

As of 4pm Wednesday, 134,952 homes and businesses were without power across the state, the majority – 108,415 – located in eastern Victoria, according to a state government update.

Some 3,104 customers that remain without electricity have been described as “power dependent” due to needing energy for life support or other medical reasons.

Hundreds of phone towers were also down across the Optus and Telstra networks, while about 148,000 NBN customers have no internet.

The government also confirmed there were “major widespread telecommunications issues” due to the outages, which affected triple zero, particularly in Gippsland, but most had been resolved by 9.30am Wednesday.

About 80 schools and early childhood services in central and western Victoria, as well as in Melbourne’s south-east, were closed as a result of the power outages, as well as accessibility, sewage and water issues. It remains unclear which schools will reopen on Thursday.

Victoria weather: intense storms bring heavy rain, wind and blackouts – video

Some train services also remain affected, with buses replacing trains on the Belgrave line in Melbourne and on the V/Line service between Traralgon and Bairnsdale.

Outages also affected the Wonthaggi hospital and Phillip Island health hub, with surgeries cancelled for patients. Cancer and haemodialysis services, pathology and emergency dental appointments were cancelled.

In a statement, operator Bass Coast Health said visitors could still visit loved ones in the health care centres.

“All services except for theatre are operating,” they said. “Our emergency department at Wonthaggi Hospital and urgent care centres at Cowes remain open for people who are unwell.”

The government confirmed health services in Bairnsalde, Gippsland, Yarram and Yea were also affected by the outages. It said all remained on backup generators and that was expected to last three to five days.

Allan said the catastrophic bushfire risk declared on Tuesday was downgraded to extreme on Wednesday morning.

“To give it some context, yesterday was only the second day since the fires of Black Saturday in 2009, 15 years ago, that had that catastrophic rating” she said. Fire crews battled to control the bushfires overnight.

A spokesperson for VicEmergency said the State Emergency Service had 124 of its 150 units deployed in recovery efforts.

“SES has had approximately 3900 requests across the state for volunteer assistance since 9:00am 13 February. Approximately 600 of those requests have related to building damage,” they said.

Fire crews were on Wednesday assessing the impact that a blaze near the Grampians national park has had on Pomonal. The premier visited the nearby incident control centre in Horsham in the afternoon for a briefing and a flyover of the affected areas.

Homes, hostels and business were evacuated across the region. But 750 metres from the Grampians national park, Aidan Banfield said he was “really confident” about staying to defend his camping and caravan parkland.

“Beyond a certain size or property, people have a lot of [firefighting] equipment, particularly big farmers. They’ve been on the land for a long time and have a lot of experience,” he said.

“The classic pitch you see … is a little hose fighting fires, and that happens. But there’s definitely others that have really significant power.”

Banfield said having lived through the 2006 Mount Lubra fires helped prepare himself and other residents to fight future fires.

The fire threat has eased in the Mount Stapylton and Bellfield areas in the Grampians national park after residents were told seek shelter on Tuesday afternoon.

Conditions were also better on Wednesday around a bushfire at Newtown near Ballarat after residents were told to evacuate after a grassfire spread into a forest and morphed into a bushfire.

The transport department on Wednesday urged motorists to be patient and stay alert for hazards as storm damage had affected the road and transport network.

A number of bus replacement services were in place on Wednesday morning and the Western Highway remains closed between Horsham and Stawell.

Five country firefighters suffered minor injuries after their truck was involved in a burnover at a fire ground at Pomonal on Tuesday night.

The firefighters were pre-positioned in the town and tasked with protecting homes and critical infrastructure, said Chris Hardman, chief of Forest Fire Management Victoria.

“When the wind change came through, the fire moved very rapidly into Pomonal and those firefighters were caught between the fire front and the work they were doing in protecting communities,” Hardman told ABC News.

“We don’t have a full understanding of the fire front and the impact it’s had on the township, but it certainly has impacted sections of the Pomonal township and we’ve had some losses.”

Phillip Vaughan’s Australian native nursery in Pomonal was damaged by the fires, losing “significant” gardens and plants grown over the last four decades.

“We’re just trying to get the water back up and running so we can water the nursery,” he said.

Vaughan told Guardian Australia plants grown for the Melbourne International Flower and Garden Show next month were damaged in the fire, including rare native grown for a show garden display.

“It will be interesting trying to replace [plants], but it’s the people who’ve lost their houses we’re more concerned about. We’ll soldier on. We can do a bit of replanting and do whatever we can do,” he said.

With additional reporting by Australian Associated Press