12 injured while preparing for downpour

A dozen people have been injured while preparing their properties for freak storms expected to dump at least two months' rain on Victoria in three days.

A heavy downpour in Melbourne. (AAP) Source: AAP

Eleven men and one woman fell from ladders on Thursday, many while clearing their gutters ahead of the deluge.

Nine of the 12 ladder victims were aged over 50, Ambulance Victoria says.

The most seriously injured, a man in his 80s, was airlifted to Melbourne with critical head and spinal injuries after falling near Bendigo.

The others sustained head and back injuries, bruises and fractures.

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