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Intense storm predicted to weaken as it moves into Victoria

Communities across Victoria are bracing for powerful winds, heavy rain and flash flooding as an intense storm sweeps across from South Australia, but the system is expected to weaken as it moves east.

The Bureau of Meteorology (BoM) has issued a severe weather warning for damaging winds and heavy rainfall for western, central and north-eastern parts of the state, including Mildura, Warrnambool, Bendigo, Melbourne and Wodonga.

The storm has already brought down trees and powerlines in Adelaide, with thousands of homes without electricity.

Senior meteorologist James Taylor said the low pressure system would weaken as it moved into Victoria, but would still bring damaging winds and heavy rainfall.

“Any rainfall that we get will see river systems react quite quickly and the flooding that we’ve got at the moment will take longer to ease,” he said.

“The rainfall associated with this might bring flooding back up to the minor to moderate range in anywhere that’s eased off.

“But it seems unlikely at this stage that we’d go back into major flooding for Victoria.”

The rainfall will be mainly about northern and western Victoria with falls of 20 to 40 millimetres expected and 50 to 80 millimetres in elevated areas.

Wind gusts could reach 110 kilometres per hour around the Great Dividing Range, but most areas could expect gusts of up to 90kph.

“They’re the sorts of winds that are strong enough to bring down some relatively large branches or even topple some smaller trees,” Mr Taylor said.

Flood watches are current, for Melbourne, the North-East forecast district, the Goulburn and Broken Rivers and the Campaspe, Loddon, Avoca and Wimmera rivers.

Flood warnings are current for the Keiwa, Broken and Lodden rivers.

State Emergency Service (SES) duty officer Josh Gamble said people should monitor weather conditions.

“What the SES is asking people to do is move vehicles under cover and away from trees, secure and put away loose items around your house, keep clear of fallen powerlines, don’t walk, ride, drive through any floodwater whatsoever,” he said.

-ABC

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