Tree feared before fatal fall in Vic storm

A violent storm which rolled across Victoria has claimed a child's life, and seriously injured another, after a large tree fell onto a family home.

A tree lies on the ground during Melbourne's wild weather

A two-year-old boy has been killed when a tree fell on the roof of his home outside Melbourne. (AAP)

Residents held safety concerns about a large tree which toppled onto a Victorian home, killing a toddler and injuring his sister, during a violent storm.

The Victorian government has said reports that several complaints had been lodged with the council over the tree will be investigated.

The tree destroyed part of the top floor of the two-storey home in The Patch, on Melbourne's eastern fringe, when it fell during a violent storm which crossed the state late on Saturday.

The home contained seven members, spanning three generations, of the same family.

Two adults and two children were trapped when emergency crews arrived about 9pm.

They freed the adults and a five-year-old girl - who suffered head, chest and leg injuries - but could not revive the two-year-old boy.

A neighbour told ABC TV they were a "lovely family - you couldn't fault them as neighbours".

Emergency Services Minister Jane Garrett described it as a tragedy on a horrendous night for the state.

"We had 1700 call outs of people who've been affected by these ferocious storms and clearly the most tragic of those call-outs was for the young boy at The Patch," Ms Garrett told reporters on Sunday.

"... A two-year-old child, that precious child, the thoughts and prayers of all Victorians are with him and his family as they grapple with that loss."

The injured girl remains in the Royal Children's Hospital in a stable condition.

Ms Garrett said there were reports that neighbours had called the council to state their concern about the size of the tree, without any action taken to reduce its size.

It was up to councils to manage trees on their land to ensure community safety, the minister said, however: "In light of the tragic circumstances of last night, we will be reviewing all of these processes and making sure that everything's being done to prevent a tragedy like this happening again.

The State Emergency Service received 850 reports of fallen trees across the state.

At 11pm on Saturday, around 70,000 properties had lost power and around 10,000 were still without power at 4pm on Sunday.

A middle-aged woman suffered a broken leg from a tree fall in South Yarra, while a man in his 40s was also hospitalised when a tree fell on his leg at The Basin.

"It was the highest tier of storm warning, which I haven't seen for a while, but it was quite short and the (storm) cell moved through quite quickly," SES spokeswoman Frances Taylor told AAP.


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Source: AAP


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