Two men have died after they were pulled from rough water off Frankston Beach in Melbourne’s south, as Victoria was lashed with wild weather.
A police chopper was called to Port Philip at around 5pm after reports that the two men had gotten into trouble in the water.
A search was conducted and the pair was spotted unresponsive in the water.
Both men were winched back to shore, but they could not be revived.
They are yet to be formally identified.
A police spokesperson said a report would be prepared for the coroner.
The incident unfolded during a day of severe weather across the state.
A tram and a car have been hit by a falling tree in Melbourne, and dangerous winds have forced Geelong Cup organisers to call off racing for the day as an intense low-pressure system swept across Victoria.
A severe weather warning has been issued for the vast majority of Victoria as a deep low-pressure system in Bass Strait moves rapidly eastwards, bringing destructive winds throughout Wednesday.
The Bureau of Meteorology (BOM) has also warned of the possibility of thunderstorms.
Winds gusts reached more than 90 kph in Malvern in Melbourne’s east, causing a large tree to fall across a busy road and collide with a tram and a car.
A large tree has fallen onto a tram and a car in Melbourne as severe weather cuts power to thousands of Victorians. (ABC News: Bella Van Der Linde)
No one was injured despite the close call for the drivers and passengers of a tram and a car in Malvern. (ABC News: Bella Van Der Linde)
Winds were gusting to more than 90kph in Melbourne when the tree came down. (ABC News: Bella Van Der Linde)
Michelle says her daughter was sitting in the back seat when the branch pierced the back window. (ABC News: Bella Van Der Linde)
A motorist named Michelle said she was just driving past the tram when she heard a loud bang at the rear of her vehicle.
She said a branch pierced the back window of her car where her young daughter was sitting.
“I didn’t even see the tree,” she said.
“It was just [there] all of a sudden, out of nowhere.”
She said her daughter was in shock.
In Melbourne’s east, a large tree was ripped from the ground in Mitcham, falling across a fence and damaging a neighbouring home.
The State Emergency Service (SES) had received more than 1,200 calls for assistance at 7pm.
SES Central Duty Officer Geb Abbott said most of the calls were for trees that had fallen across roads and properties.
She said most of the damage earlier in the day was in the south-west of the state and the Grampians before the focus shifted to Melbourne later in the day.
“The winds that we’ve been experiencing today of over 90 or 100 kilometres an hour are certainly enough to take down branches, fell a tree,” she said.
Geelong Cup organisers were also forced to call off the biggest day on the city’s racing calendar as gusts at the racecourse hit 87 kph.
Marquees were evacuated after the third race of the day at around 2pm, with the decision to postpone remaining races until Thursday afternoon made about an hour later.
Geelong Racing Club CEO Luke Rayner said the suspension of racing was disappointing.
“The jockeys and the stewards are the ones that control the outcome of the racing and whether it’s deemed safe or it’s OK to ride,” Mr Rayner told ABC Radio Melbourne.
“That was a constant discussion after each and every race.”
Mr Rayner said information came through that the winds were strengthening and would exceed the 80kph safety limit for the marquees and other temporary infrastructure.
“We put all of our mitigation plans in place and relocation plans in place,” he said.
“We had a direct line in my office where we were able to obtain 30-minute updates, and we knew when those winds were potentially going to arrive, which gave us a full hour to relocate customers, even though it was quite efficient and took about 20 minutes.”
He said the six races which could not be run, including the Derby Classic and the Geelong Cup, would go ahead on Thursday.
Racing Victoria CEO Aaron Morrison said the team had done a “fantastic job” working with emergency services and police.
A wind gust of 120 kilometres per hour was recorded at Mount Gellibrand in Victoria’s south-west at 2:58pm, and 110kph at nearby Mount William.
Further south, the city of Warrnambool recorded a gust of 94kph and 91kph at nearby Port Fairy and at Portland.
There were similar gusts at Warracknabeal and Stawell in the state’s west, and Swan Hill in the north-west, and gusts just slightly lower in the north of the state.
In the alps, in Victoria’s north-east, Mount Hotham was hit by a 111kph gust.Â
Elsewhere, gusts have exceeded 90kph at Aireys Inlet and Avalon.
In Melbourne, winds are gusting around 94kph at Laverton in the city’s west, 93kph at Essendon and 80kph near the CBD.
Power cut as commuters, drivers met with chaos
More than 13,500 properties were without power at 5pm — mostly in the western half of the state, Melbourne and the Mornington Peninsula.
Energy providers Powercor and Ausnet said they doubled their crews for today’s weather and most properties would be reconnected this evening.
Daniel Hayes from the BOM said the state had not seen huge amounts of rain as the low-pressure system, which was south of Melbourne at about 3:30pm, passed through.
“We are going to have these quite strong winds with us for quite some time yet through the day,” he said.
“It’s probably not until later this evening that we start to see things easing off significantly.”
He said Melbourne Airport recorded gusts over 90kph.
Conditions were expected to ease in Victoria’s north, west and central areas by the evening and over the state’s south-east on Thursday morning.
V/Line confirmed an Echuca to Southern Cross train service would terminate at Bendigo after storm debris on the tracks in Bendigo’s north caused delays.
Reports on social media show large tree branches covering train tracks at Goornong, 30 kilometres north-west of Bendigo.
Winds reached about 80kph in Mornington. (Supplied: Liane Willoughby)
Conditions were expected to ease across Victoria on Wednesday night. (Supplied: Stephen Churcher)
Surfers head out from Mornington during the peak of the wild weather. (Supplied: Stephen Churcher)
In Geelong, driver Rohan said he was forced to hit the brakes when a large tree fell across the road.
“It blocked the left lane and maybe the middle lane,” he said.
“Luckily, the lights changed from red to green, so we’d just taken off, and before we knew it, the tree came down.
“The branches hit a few cars in front of me, so I feel sorry for those guys.”
East of Geelong, caller Andrew from Queenscliff said the old historic wind gauge at the nearby Point Lonsdale Lighthouse was recording 120kph gusts at the entrance to Port Phillip.
“Very dangerous waters, you wouldn’t want to be out there today,” he said.