Victoria braced for another night of wild wind and destruction

http://www.theguardian.com/world/2013/oct/01/victoria-braced-more-wild-wind

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Victoria is bracing itself for a second night of gales after some of the strongest winds ever to hit Melbourne prompted more than 2,000 emergency calls.<br /> <br />Winds reaching speeds of 143km/h buffeted Melbourne on Monday night, causing damage to properties, toppling trees and bringing down power lines. About 50,000 Melbourne homes were still without electricity on Tuesday.<br /> <br />The suburbs of Altona, Broadmeadows and Frankston were among those hardest hit by the gusts, the third strongest recorded in Victoria.<br /> <br />The bureau of meteorology said the scale of the damage had not been seen since April 2008, when the remnants of tropical cyclone Pancho hit Victoria.<br /> <br />The bureau has issued a further gale warning for Tuesday evening, with winds stronger than 100km/h expected, although far less widespread than Monday. It said the strong winds came from a rapidly moving cold front moving eastwards across Victoria.<br /> <br />The extreme weather caused a number of problems for Melburnians trying to get to work on Tuesday. A fallen tree led to commuters on the Belgrave train line being transferred to buses, while strong winds caused further delays on the Lilydale, Frankston and Pakenham lines.<br /> <br />Telstra said damage to mobile phone base stations had left some parts of Melbourne without coverage.<br /> <br />On Tuesday morning, the State Emergency Service issued a flood warning after 24mm rain fell on Monday. The SES warned people to avoid floodwaters and keep clear of fallen power lines.

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