Overview

A major low-pressure system affected alpine and coastal Victoria from 27 August to 6 September 2024. It brought strong winds, heavy rain, and repeated cold fronts over nine days.

The storm mainly affected alpine and coastal areas, but impacts were felt across the state. The weather system lasted a long time, which made the damage worse.

One person died in Moama when a tree fell onto a tourist cabin. No other injuries were reported.

Response

The Victoria State Emergency Service led the response, with support from other emergency agencies. There were more than 9,500 requests for help across the state. These included damage to buildings, flooding, and rescue incidents.

Emergency services issued many warnings during the event, especially about damaging winds and dangerous coastal conditions, such as high tides and rough surf. Some warnings were in place for longer than usual because the storms kept returning. This event prompted some of Victoria’s first warnings for coastal hazards including high tides and hazardous surf, with unusually long warning periods due to repeated fronts.

The long event meant workers experienced fatigued. To help, the AFAC National Resource Sharing Centre arranged for extra crews from New South Wales to assist.

Emergency services also worked to manage problems with power, communications, and transport networks.

Impact

The storm caused widespread impacts across Victoria including one fatality in Moama. No other injuries were reported.

Property damage: Strong winds damaged many homes. Some houses lost roofs or became unsafe to live in. A bathing box also collapsed. Some people had to leave their homes.

Power and communications: More than 180,000 customers lost power at the peak of the storm. Some outages lasted several days. There were also telecommunication disruptions.

Transport: Public transport was delayed or stopped in some areas due to fallen trees, debris, and power outages.

Community impacts: Schools and kindergartens closed on the most dangerous days.

Environment: There was significant coastal erosion due to strong waves and high tides.

This was a long and severe weather event that caused damage and disruption across many parts of Victoria.