Flood evacuations are taking place in Tasmania while 180,000 properties in Victoria lost power overnight and schools were closed as deadly storms lashed southeast Australia.

Destructive wind hit much of Victoria from 1am to 4am today, toppling trees and powerlines and damaging buildings and vehicles. Roads and train lines closed, with about 90 intersections without power in the metropolitan area.

Victorian emergency management commissioner Rick Nugent says there were more than 2800 requests for assistance from 7pm on Sunday to 10am today, including 2000 for trees down and 650 for building damage.

The busiest areas were Frankston, Morwell, Warragal and Emerald.

“Over 660 properties have been damaged due to this storm front that came through. There are some homes that are uninhabitable; we don’t know exactly how many yet because impact assessments need to be undertaken,” Mr Nugent said.

Wind speeds of up to 157km/h were recorded at King Island Airport, and the Bureau of Meteorology’s Kevin Parkin says gusts of more than 140km/h were recorded at Victoria’s Fawkner Beacon at the north end of Port Phillip Bay.

“That’s got to be close to a record,” he said, noting there were “lots of wind gusts in that 110km/h-120km/h range” across the state, including in St Kilda.

“It’s been a tiring week for the Victorian community, the winds have not let up,” Mr Parkin said. “Overnight, it was more of a gale event. No one was left unscathed.”

The wild weather comes as a series of cold fronts follow Victoria’s warmest winter on record.

“The dynamics are associated with strong temperature contrast ... which has been well above normal,” Mr Parkin said. “When we drill down on Melbourne in particular, it’s certainly broken all records for the maximum temperature. We’ve just had the warmest August on record for Melbourne.”

The Bureau of Meteorology has issued a major flood warning for Tasmania’s Derwent River and “evacuate now” warnings are in place for Meadowbank to Macquarie Plains and Styx River, Bushy Park to Macquarie Plains and surrounds, with large areas to become isolated or inundated by floodwater.

In Moama, on the NSW-Victoria border, a 63-year old woman was killed by a falling tree at a caravan park. 

The Insurance Council of Australia told insuranceNEWS.com.au it is too early to comment on the impact of the storms.

Victorian Premier Jacinta Allan says it does not appear as bad as June 2021 – when high wind struck Gippsland and the Yarra Ranges, causing more than $300 million in insured losses from 34,000 claims – or the February storms that brought 27,000 claims and insured losses of $215 million.

“Crews are out there right now, assessing damage, restoring power, clearing roads and trees. So until that work is concluded, it is hard to provide a final number in terms of ... homes that have been damaged or lost,” she said.

“There is a lot of damage, and as we work through that recovery and response, we will have a better understanding of the ongoing impacts.”

From Insurance News magazine: As the US grapples with unprecedented fire, flood and storm risks, what lessons can Australian insurers learn?