The premier said emergency services and volunteers are working round the clock to clear debris.
“There is a lot of damage. Working through that recovery and response, we’ll have a better understanding of the ongoing impact,” she said.
“We continue to thank every single Victorian who is working incredibly hard to restore power, reopen roads, make homes and buildings safe.”
Warragul and Moe, in Victoria’s south-east, are suffering from widespread outages, as AusNet crews attempt to get the towns back on supply.
Moe Traders Association president Sue Broadbent said there were numerous trees down in the region and many residents and businesses were without power.
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She said fierce winds had torn the roof off one house in nearby Newborough and brought down a large tree in the centre of Moe. Broadbent lost power to her cafe in the town centre and she expected the power outage would cost her thousands of dollars in forgone revenue and spoiled food.
Broadbent said many people were disappointed to find power out in the town centre after electricity was cut to their homes.
“They’re all just frustrated,” she said.
In Melbourne, public transport has been affected, with services on the Sandringham train line suspended on Monday morning and replacement buses operating.
Buses are also replacing trains between Bairnsdale and Southern Cross stations, as the extreme weather caused obstructions to fall across the track.
Some schools are running classes remotely after closing onsite learning amid the severe weather.
Two government schools, St Helena in Eltham and Yarra Ranges Special Development School have closed for the day.
In a letter to students, Padua College on the Mornington Peninsula cited concerns over the weather and student safety behind its decision to teach remotely across its three campuses.
Schools affected by power outages have been made to run classes online as well.
Bureau of Meteorology senior meteorologist Joanna Hewes said while the strong winds from overnight have now travelled to the eastern part of the state, “we are still expecting to see damaging winds up to 100km/h in Melbourne, mostly around coastal areas”.
“While the worst has passed, it’s still very blustery out there.”
There is a coastal hazard warning for damaging surf and abnormally high tides. Hewes said bike paths near coastal areas around Port Phillip Bay and Western Port Bay could be covered in seawater at high tide on Monday afternoon.
A 146km/h gust battered Wilsons Promontory about 2.30am on Monday, while the alpine resort of Falls Creek also copped a mighty 132km/h blast of wind.
On land, St Kilda and Aireys Inlet both recorded peak gusts of 113km/h. Off Melbourne’s shore, a 141km/h gust was recorded at Fawkner Beacon in the waters of Port Phillip Bay.
Melbourne is expected to reach a top of 14 degrees on Monday, with one to seven millimetres of rain on the way. Conditions will dry up by Tuesday, with a top of 17, before a mostly sunny Wednesday brings a peak of 20 degrees.
