Victoria lashed by 100km/h wind gusts, power outages across state

In the 12 hours to 6.25am on Friday, the State Emergency Service mid-west region had received 69 calls for assistance, 44 of which were in Ballarat.

The vast majority of calls were for fallen trees, but there were also a number of reports of building damage.

There were more than 500 calls for assistance statewide.

More damage is expected to be discovered as the morning progresses.

There are reports of trees down throughout Ballarat and a number of roads are closed.

A number of primary schools have also closed their doors for the day and will return to online learning.

The extreme winds reached their peak between 5am and 6am in Ballarat, with gusts reaching 100km/h a number of times.

There are more than 100 different electricity faults throughout Powercor's electricity network, a spokesperson told ABC Radio on Friday morning.

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There are about 91,000 customers without power.

In some areas, power is expected to be out into the weekend.

Despite the wild storms, there has only been nine millimetres of rain fall overnight in Ballarat.

Winds are expected to ease over western districts by mid-Friday morning.

Ballarat police are encouraging people to exercise extreme caution in the conditions.

"We ask that everyone drives to the conditions and is aware of all the trees that have fallen across the region," Sergeant Peter Brown said.

If you need to call SES, please call 132 500.