Updated August 10, 2026 — 11:26am,first published August 10, 2026 — 9:00am Save You have reached your maximum number of saved items. Remove items from your saved list to add more. AAA A man has died and a woman is in hospital after a tree crushed their car in Victoria’s High Country after a deluge
Updated ,first published
A man has died and a woman is in hospital after a tree crushed their car in Victoria’s High Country after a deluge of rain and wild weather hit the state.
The pair was driving along Mount Buller Road shortly before 9.15am on Monday when the tree fell into the car. The man died at the scene.
Paramedics took the woman to Wangaratta Hospital in a serious condition with an upper body injury.
The State Emergency Service responded to 158 requests for assistance overnight, mostly for downed trees, as flood warnings were issued across the state.
In the state’s east, nearly two dozen drivers were stranded along the Princes Highway after multiple potholes damaged car tyres near the rural town of Bunyip in Gippsland. Some drivers were forced to change their tyres.
Transport Victoria spokesman Andrew Crook said the highway remained open in both directions but drivers should allow more travelling time due to heavy congestion.
Childcare educator Nicole Pyste was driving to work in Morwell about 7.30am on Monday when she hit the pothole.
“I felt my car shaking and I pulled over, and there were another five cars in front of me,” she said.
By the time she got out of her car, another six or seven cars had pulled up behind her.
“My left tyre was completely flat, but I was lucky to lose just one. The poor lady behind me lost both her front and back tyres.”
Pyste wasn’t carrying a spare tyre, so she waited for two hours by the side of the road for a tow truck to arrive.
Evan Barrand, who owns a fencing business, was driving past about 6am when he saw cars flashing their hazard lights. He slowed down to 40km/h and hit the pothole, but managed to escape unscathed thanks to his slower speed and large tyres.
About an hour later, Barrand returned to help some drivers change their tyres.
“I changed about five or six tyres, there was another bloke who was helping too,” he said.
“I just liked pulling over and helping people out because if it was my mum, fiancé or dad, I’d want someone pulling over and helping them. And I feel like if I do it, then someone will do it for them.”
Footage posted on social media sites showed at last 20 cars pulled over to the side of the road and traffic response teams assisting drivers.
An SES spokesperson said the Hume region, north of Melbourne, was hit hardest overnight by the wild weather.
“With rainfall continuing into the day and river levels rising, we’re asking people to remain vigilant and to never enter flood water,” a spokesperson said.
Emergency services are currently en route to the Pyrenees town of Lexton after reports of a person trapped by floodwaters.
Monday is set to be the wettest and windiest day of this week, with rain easing on Tuesday.
Another cold front is due to hit on Wednesday, when there will be noticeable changes in air temperature, a Bureau of Meteorology spokesperson said.
More rain will shower the state on Friday.
Rutherglen, in the state’s north-east, recorded 51 millimetres of rain overnight – the most rain to hit the town in a 24-hour period in 114 years.
The weather station of Hunters Hill, located along the Murray River near Towong, received more than 87 millimetres of rain in the same period, breaking a 21-year record, while Bendigo had its wettest August day in 36 years.
There was plenty of rain over the alpine region overnight, but it wasn’t cold enough to fall as snow. Some snowfall is predicted to fall later on Monday.
“The snow hasn’t been as good as expected, even with high rainfall totals over the area, it has mostly fallen as rain,” a Bureau of Meteorology spokesperson said.
The SES and the BOM have issued several warnings for floods, mostly across the Hume region, and damaging winds in the alpine areas with peak gusts of up to 100km/h possible.
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