Horror as man killed after tree falls on car

A man has died and a woman is in critical condition after a tree fell on their car, as damaging winds continue to lash the country’s south east.

Emergency services received reports a tree fell on a car in Victoria’s southwest on Wednesday afternoon.

It is believed the car was travelling along Main Road near Berrys Road in Gellibrand about 1.30pm on Wednesday when a tree fell on the car.

The two occupants were trapped, however the male driver died at the scene.

The female passenger has been flown to hospital in a critical condition.

Both are yet to be formally identified.

An investigation has been launched into the exact circumstances of the incident.

Anyone who witnessed the incident or had CCTV or dashcam footage has been urged to come forward.

Damaging winds have also brought power outages and trees down, with warnings remaining in place across much of the country.

Wind gusts are expected to reach as high as 110km/h on Wednesday, according to Bureau of Meteorology senior meteorologist Angus Hines, with parts of Adelaide, Victoria, Tasmania and NSW set to experience gusts of up to 100km/h.

“Northern and western parts of Tasmania, including the islands, could see their winds blowing up to 110km/h, as well as the Illawara district in southern NSW and potentially some of the mountain tops throughout Victoria,” Mr Hines said.

There have already been reports of trees and branches down, power outages, and damages to loose structures.

“Power outages remain possible today across the south eastern states, and damage to loose structures like outdoor furniture, rubbish bins, fences, and trampolines, all a possibility with the winds blowing through this strongly,” Mr Hines said.

“Much of central and southern Victoria will continue to see damaging wind gusts through the day on Wednesday easing off this evening.

“Southern NSW, including the Illawarra and parts of the Sydney area will also see wind gusts through this afternoon and this evening.”

Victorians were previously warned to “act now”, with people in the most heavily treed areas of the state have been asked to avoid travel as wind gusts were expected to bring down trees.

On Tuesday Victoria SES chief operations officer Tim Wiebusch said people across the state should act now to secure any loose items in yards.

“We all too often see outdoor settings, trampolines and the like becoming missiles in these events,” Mr Wiebusch said.

He has asked all Victorians to download the Vic Emergency App, which contains the latest advice issued by emergency services.

“Make sure you stay in tune with the warnings,” he said.

“That advice message provides all the latest information … around the wind phenomena, but also the coastal hazard warnings.

“As a result, we are asking Victorians to be alert on the roads, ensure that you are keeping an eye out for fallen trees and debris over the next 36 hours,” he said on Tuesday.