UPDATE, 8.15pm: Good news
Power has been restored in most areas of Kialla and Shepparton.
Around 120 houses remain without power in Kialla, down from over 1600 earlier today.
Around 1000 houses remain without power in Murchison, Toolamba, Arcadia and Dhurringile.
Powercor has also released some updated information.
“CitiPower and Powercor teams are working to restore power to more than 89,300 homes and businesses after destructive storms hit the state, causing widespread damage to the electricity network,” the statement said.
“Severe winds and thousands of lightning strikes have causes significant damage to poles, wires and other electrical infrastructure.
“We are responding to more than 640 different faults, including fallen powerlines.
“If people do see a fallen powerline, they should stay well away from them and report them to us immediately on 13 24 12. Please always assume a powerline is live.
“Due to the large volumes and complexity of the damage, restoration times will be longer than usual and some customers may be without power for multiple days.
“We have extra crew, control and customer centre resources on board working into the evening to respond and restore power as safely and as quickly as possible.”
UPDATE, 7.30pm: Mooroopna
Confirmation through that most Mooroopna residents should have had their power restored.
In glass-half-full news for those in Kialla and Shepparton who have received messages estimating 6.30pm tomorrow night for their power to return, Mooroopna residents also received that notification shortly before their power was able to be restored.
Fingers crossed that bodes well for everyone else.
UPDATE, 7.15pm: Further afield
To the north, more than 600 houses are without power, mostly around Strathmerton (432) and Katunga (148).
Estimated time of restoration is around 12.30am tomorrow for those areas.
Looking north-west, more than 1100 houses are without power in Nathalia, over 200 in Barmah and almost 200 in Picola.
These areas are expected to be back online by 11.30pm tonight.
Over 2000 houses are without power around Echuca.
UPDATE, 7pm: The state of play
Confirmation through from residents of affected areas that messages have been sent out stating the new estimated restoration time for the majority of those without power is 6.30pm tomorrow night.
Murchison and Toolamba remains 11.30pm tonight.
At the time of writing over 90,000 CitiPower and Powercor customers remain without power across the state, down from around 111,000 at one stage this afternoon.
Mooroopna has been removed from the outages map and we are awaiting confirmation that power has been restored.
In our region, the following areas have approximately the following number of customers without power.
Kialla: 1604
Murchison/Murchison North/Murchison East: 711
Toolamba/Toolamba West: 386
Shepparton: 268
Dhurringile: 96
Arcadia/Arcadia South: 95
UPDATE, 6.40pm: Updated info
The outages map powercor.com.au is now reflecting an estimated restoration time of 6.30pm tomorrow (February 14) for areas of Kialla, Arcadia and Shepparton currently without power.
Residents around the Murchison and Toolamba area have retained an estimated time of 11.30pm tonight for their power to return.
UPDATE, 5.40pm: Sky darkens
The sky is certainly looking (and sounding) more ominous in Shepparton, with power still out to thousands of homes across the region.
Traffic lights remain out in Kialla, and reports confirm the same in Mooroopna.
Send us through any photos of storm damage near you at editor@sheppnews.com.au or tyler.maher@mmg.com.au, and let us know when power comes back on at your house this evening.
UPDATE, 4.50pm: Further details
Here’s some more info from Powercor following this afternoon’s storms - which in Shepparton itself lasted for only 15 minutes at most.
“CitiPower and Powercor crews are working to restore power to about 107,000 customers as a severe storm front pushes through Victoria,” the statement said.
“A combination of extreme temperatures, strong winds and thousands of lightning strikes are causing damage to poles, wires and other electrical infrastructure.
“Crews are responding to more than 400 different faults across western and central Victoria, as well as Melbourne’s inner suburbs.
“Throughout this afternoon and into this evening, we are expecting more winds, storms and lightning to hits western and central Victoria and we are urging people to take steps to prepare for power outages now.
“If people do see a fallen powerlines, they should always stay well away from them and report them to us immediately on 13 24 12.
“We will keep people updated via SMS and our outage map at www.powercor.com.au
“Over the past few days, we have been monitoring these extreme weather conditions and have extra crews, control room operators, customer centre representatives and other resources responding as we focus on getting power back on to our customers as safely and quickly as possible.”
EARLIER, 4pm: Storm damage causes havoc
Thousands of homes across Greater Shepparton and almost 100,000 across Victoria have lost power.
Powercor spokesperson Jordan Oliver told The News that there had been 92,000 outages across Victoria and 4500 in the Greater Shepparton area due to “storm damage”.
“We are working hard to get it back on and will keep everyone updated,” he said.
“Stay well clear of any downed power lines and notify us on 13 24 12.”
A large number of traffic lights along key streets and roads - including the Goulburn Valley Hwy in Kialla and McLennan St in Mooroopna - are also currently not working.
Powercor initially notified some residents in the southern parts of Greater Shepparton that the power was estimated be restored by midnight, but has since revised that messaging to 6.30pm.
The Department of Transport has announced buses will replace trains on some services this afternoon.
Metro Services are impacted on sections of the Belgrave, Craigieburn, Cranbourne, Frankston, Glen Waverley, and Pakenham lines, as well as the V/Line services on sections of the Gippsland, Seymour and Shepparton lines.
Travellers are encouraged to check station platform displays, listen for announcements, and allow extra time for their journey.
More to come.