The Squiz 

The cold front sweeping over southeastern parts of the country did more damage yesterday – spreading from Tassie to Victoria and NSW. To give you an idea of its severity, reports say winds “equivalent to a category 3 cyclone” hit Victoria – downing electricity lines, damaging roofs and fences, and turning deadly when a woman was killed by a tree that fell on her cabin near the Victoria-NSW border. On the power front, more than 180,000 homes in Victoria and 38,000 in Tasmania were without power at one point yesterday. That had dropped down to about 85,000 homes in Victoria by yesterday afternoon, while authorities were warning many Tasmanians could be affected for days.

Sounds like it got worse…

Yep… In Victoria, the damaging winds – which reached gusts of 146km per hour in parts of the state – had multiple schools closed yesterday (although many are due to reopen today…). The State Emergency Service received over 4,000 calls for help from Sunday night into Monday, with Warragul, Morwell, Emerald, Hastings and Ballarat – all regional spots – among the worst hit. Things hadn’t eased much in Tassie either, with flood warnings still in place along the River Derwent. Simon Lewis from the ​​Bureau of Meteorology (BOM) said the worst of the wind had passed  – including 157km per hour gusts at King Island north of Tassie – but they “weren’t completely out of the woods”. Forecasts tipped a record-breaking flood peak near Macquarie Plains, about 50km northwest of Hobart, last night – so we might get an update today…

What about further north?

Good shout – it didn’t get quite so hectic up in Sydney yesterday, but the winds were strong enough that Sydney Airport stopped using 2 of its 3 runways for both inbound and outbound planes, which saw nearly 50 flights axed. Weather-related cancellations also hit Melbourne and Brisbane airports, meaning a lot of delays around the country. The winds in NSW also caused headaches for firefighters – with an extreme fire danger warning in place yesterday for the Illawarra region and greater Sydney. Further north, a blaze broke out at Tomago, close to Newcastle, with the Rural Fire Service issuing an emergency warning in the area – before bringing it under control last night. As for where the severe weather front is going next, the BOM reckons it’s easing as it heads away from southeast Oz across the Tasman Sea. But it’s leaving some big clean-up efforts in its wake…