Girl struck by lightning in Victoria

A teenage girl has been struck by lightning while the State Emergency Service (SES)
dealt with hundreds of calls for help after an intense thunderstorm swept Victoria.
And there are fears parts of Victoria could receive another 50mm of rain in addition
to the heavy falls already experienced on Wednesday.
The SES has received more than 750 calls from across the state up to 6pm (AEDT) on
Thursday, with the vast majority from Melbourne's east.
Bureau of Meteorology forecaster Scott Williams said the unstable conditions had
resulted in an intense electrical storm that moved through Melbourne about 2.20pm
(AEDT) on Thursday.
"It's hit Shepparton and it's likely to go through the east of Melbourne," Mr
Williams told AAP.
The hardest hit suburbs were around Nunawading, where 270 people have called the SES
for help to clear storm damage, SES state duty officer Tim Wiebusch said.
Another 126 calls came from the Narre Warren area in the city's southeast, while
Eltham and Doncaster recorded 80 and 40 emergency calls respectively.
A 17-year-old girl was struck by lightning at a house in Rowville at 3.27pm, an
Ambulance Victoria spokeswoman said.
The girl had difficulty moving her legs and was taken to Monash Medical Centre in a
stable condition.
A 30-year-old train driver who fell ill after her train was struck by lightning at
Sunshine is in the Western Hospital in a stable condition.
Metropolitan train operator Connex said lightning strikes on several lines had
affected its entire network, spokeswoman Lanie Harris said.
A tree has fallen on the Belgrave-Lilydale line and buses will replace services in
both directions between Box Hill and Ringwood.
Ms Harris said it would take "a long time" for maintenance crews to catch up and
commuters could expect long delays.
In regional Victoria, lightning damaged signals on the Ballarat line, and all
services have been suspended in both directions with bus replacements, while a
fallen tree was cleared from the Bendigo line at Mount Macedon.
A V/Line spokesman said signal problems in Pakenham had delayed Gippsland trains by
about 15 minutes.
Hundreds of shoppers were evacuated from the Fountain Gate shopping centre at Narre
Warren as the storm caused flooding in shops and cinemas.
A second storm is expected to hit the south of Melbourne, including the Mornington
Peninsula and Western Port Bay, late on Thursday.
Mr Wiebusch said heavy rain was also expected overnight in a line across central
Victoria from Swan Hill to Werribee, with falls of up to 50mm and flash flooding
predicted overnight in al but the western and Gippsland regions.