Victoria’s State Emergency Service (SES) has received almost 600 calls for help as wild weather ravaged the state.

Heavy rain has fallen on Melbourne Frankston received 43 millimeters of rain in two hours on Friday morning.

Melbourne Airport recorded 34mm in the north of the city, Moorabbin in the south-east had more than 30mm, while Avalon in the west also had 34mm.

Geelong received 67mm since 9am, the highest daily total in 13 years.

Drivers were caught in flash flooding in many parts of the state, including in Frankston, where submerged cars had to be pulled from flooded roads.

A number of outbound lanes of the Monash Freeway under Toorak Road were closed due to flooding, causing heavy traffic jams on Melbourne’s busiest roadway.

In mid-afternoon, ground operations at Melbourne Airport were suspended due to thunderstorms, causing some delays.

An airport spokesman said some planes could take off and land depending on the pilot’s judgement.

Storms continued to roll in across Melbourne throughout the day, but conditions were expected to ease in the evening.

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During the afternoon, warnings were issued for “very dangerous storms” in several parts of the state’s south-west, including Bannockburn, Lara and Geelong.

The storms were part of a deep low-pressure system moving eastward across the state, accompanied by a warm and moist air mass.

SES state officer Kate Turner said there were concerns communities in the northeast could experience similar damage to Wednesday’s storm in western Victoria.

“What we saw in Casterton was a supercell storm, and it also had a hook in it, which essentially means it wasn’t really a tornado. It doesn’t meet the criteria, but we’re definitely approaching that point,” she said. said.

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Ms Turner said preparing for a tornado was largely similar to preparing for high winds.

“Tornadoes are definitely a little unusual for us, but it’s something that the Bureau has predicted… we had a warning a few days ago, so it’s something that came into range today,” she said.

“Park your car away from trees, but the most important thing is to stay indoors where you can. Think carefully about your trip today. If you don’t have to be outside, don’t be, especially if you have a flooded road, you must turn around. You cannot drive through flood water.

In the early morning hours the wind increased in strength, causing power outages until approximately 1,800 homes in the Goulburn Murray, including in Tatura and Murchison.

Nearly all homes were reconnected by late afternoon, but another 1,700 homes and businesses lost power in the eastern part of the state.

Residents are busy cleaning up in the western part of the state

In Ballarat, Simone Baur-Schmid received a call at 9.20am on Friday from a distressed employee who told her the restaurant she co-owned was flooding.

“We quickly ran over to see what was going on and unfortunately we discovered that there was water pouring into the entire restaurant through the back door all the way to the front,” Ms. Baur-Schmid said.

She said she would normally have 80 customers in the restaurant for lunch.

Clean-up efforts continued in Casterton, western Victoria, following heavy rain and hailstones up to 4cm in diameter on Wednesday evening.

Local Renee Kiley said many homes and businesses in the city had collapsed roofs, smashed windows and were damaged by flash flooding.

“It’s just carnage all around… you wouldn’t think Mother Nature could be so cruel,” Ms Kiley said.

“I think everyone is a bit overwhelmed by it, when I just talk to people they all look a bit devastated and a bit devastated.

“But community spirit is always high in times like these, and everyone just helps each other out…just too many houses for the SES.”

She estimated that she suffered more than $5,000 in losses before calculating the repair costs.

“It is a huge shock to our trade, the loss of stock of our fresh fruit and vegetables and now we are left with the underlying question of whether we cannot open for dinner tonight.”

The Department of Health had forecast a moderate risk of asthma from thunderstorms for the Mallee and the North Country.

For SES assistance, call 132 500 and for life-threatening emergencies, call 000.