Push to weatherproof Australia’s electricity grid as 77,000 still without power in Victoria

Storm-damaged transmission towers at Anakie in Victoria. More than 500,000 customers in the state were affected by power outages on Tuesday, with thousands still without electricity. Photograph: Con Chronis/AAP

Victoria’s energy minister will push for a national approach to weatherproof the electricity grid, with about 77,000 properties still without power after a deadly storm brought down transmission lines.

Lily D’Ambrosio said the storm, which swept through the state on Tuesday afternoon and resulted in the death of a dairy farmer in South Gippsland, has caused “one of the largest outage events in the state’s history”.