MORE than 600 properties were without electricity on Monday night due to a thunderstorm.
The majority of properties affected lost power when a lightning strike hit a transformer at around 10pm.
Supply was restored to more than 400 affected properties in the following two hours, with efforts to reconnect 142 properties completed late Tuesday afternoon.
Meanwhile, the storm sparked two fires south of Kerang at one of the area’s major road intersections.
Emergency services personnel were called to the intersection of the Loddon Valley and Murray Valley highways at 7.45pm after a passing storm stared the blazes.
One strike started a grass fire on the northern side of the intersection, with a second strike sparking an electricity pole and grass fire on the southern side of the intersection.
Although it took crews from the Kerang and Sandhill Lake fire brigades less than 10 minutes to contain both blazes, personnel had to wait for the electricity supply to be cut to completely extinguish the electricity pole and grass blaze.
Traffic diversion were put in place during the early evening to ensure firefighters’ safety.
