Hundreds of thousands of residents across the Australian state of Victoria are still without power today, Wednesday, after stormy weather led to the destruction of power transmission lines and ignited wildfires, injuring five firefighters. Strong winds on Tuesday knocked down electricity transmission lines, leading to a shutdown of generators at the Loy Yang A power station operated by AGL, and affecting half a million properties, marking one of the largest outages in Victoria's history.
Victorian Premier Jacinta Allan told reporters that about 220,000 homes and businesses remain without electricity this morning. AGL stated that two units at the power plant have returned to operation, while the remaining two units may come back online within 24 hours. The electricity company noted that it could take weeks to restore power to all affected customers.
Authorities reported that one man died due to debris flying in the southern part of the state. Train services have been suspended on some Melbourne lines, and at least 10 schools and dozens of childcare centers have been closed. The Australian Bureau of Meteorology forecasted more moderate weather conditions today, with temperatures ranging from 20 to 25 degrees Celsius and moderate winds, but warned that the danger has not passed yet.
