Melbourne streets have been flooded as wild weather dumped heavy rain across Victoria

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

Heavy rain has fallen over 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 southeast recorded more than 30mm and Avalon in the west also recorded 34mm.

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

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

Several outbound lanes of the Monash Freeway under Toorak Road were closed due to flooding, causing heavy traffic jams on Melbourne's busiest road.

Ground operations at Melbourne Airport were disrupted in the afternoon due to thunderstorms, causing some delays.

An airport spokesman said some planes could take off and land at the pilot's discretion.

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

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Warnings of “very dangerous storms” were issued in various parts of the state's southwest, including Bannockburn, Lara and Geelong, during the afternoon.

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

State SES officer Kate Turner says there are concerns communities in the north-east could suffer similar damage to Wednesday's storm in western Victoria.

“What we saw in Casterton was a supercell storm, and it also had a catch, which essentially means it wasn't a true tornado, it didn't meet the criteria, but we're certainly getting closer to that point,” she said said.

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

“Tornadoes are certainly a little unusual for us, but the Bureau predicted this… we had an advance warning a few days ago, so it's something that comes into play today,” she said.

“Don't park your car near trees, but the most important thing is to stay indoors where you can. Really reconsider your trip today. If you don't need to be outside, please don't, and especially if you come across a flooded road.” , you need to turn around. You can't drive through floodwaters.

In the early hours of the morning the wind increased, almost causing the power to go out 1,800 homes in the Goulburn Murray, including in Tatura and Murchison.

By late afternoon, nearly everyone had power back on, but another 1,700 homes and businesses were offline in the eastern part of the state.

Residents are cleaning up in the west of the state

In Ballarat, Simone Baur-Schmid received a call at 9.20am on Friday from a frantic employee telling her the restaurant she co-owns was flooded.

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

She said she normally has 80 customers at the restaurant for lunch.

Clean-up operations continued in Casterton, western Victoria, after torrential rain and hailstones measuring up to 4cm in diameter on Wednesday evening.

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

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

“I think everyone is a bit overwhelmed by it, just talking to people they all look a bit shaken and just a bit broken.

“But community spirit is always high at times like this and everyone helps each other out… just too many houses for the SES to reach.”

She estimated she had suffered more than $5,000 in losses before calculating the cost of repairs.

“It’s a big shock to our trade, the loss of stock in our fresh fruit and vegetables, and now we’re wondering if we can’t open for dinner this evening.”

The Department of Health had forecast a moderate risk of thunderstorm asthma for the Mallee and Northern Country.

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