A half hour deluge dumped almost 35 millimetres in the CBD, of which about 27 millimetres fell within 10 minutes. Major roads affected by extreme flash flooding included Dudley Street, Montague Street, Punt Road, Swan Street, Albert Road and Queens Road. The ceiling of Richmond police station also collapsed amid the wild weather. After severe flooding hit across the city, the SES received 533 calls for help by 10pm Friday, 245 of which were between 5.30 and 6.30pm. There were 256 calls for building damage, 22 callouts for people trapped and 36 requests for help for trees down, an SES spokeswoman said.

Melbourne storm: Cars in floodwaters Credit:Nine News About 18 people were also trapped in their cars in Richmond, Hawthorn, Hobson's Bay and Balwyn. "Our busiest unit was the Malvern unit which received 100 calls for help," the spokeswoman said. "The second busiest unit was Bacchus Marsh while our worst hit suburb was Richmond." Flooding in the CBD had mostly cleared by 10pm, but there is understood to be significant building damage in some parts of the city. "There were only about 26 calls for help in the hour between 8.30pm and 9.30pm which tells us things are quietening down," the spokeswoman said.

"However, the highest number of calls were received were for building damaged and water flooding into homes and buildings." Concert-goers lining up to see Australian music legend Paul Kelly at the Sidney Myer Music Bowl were left momentarily deflated after the stage was pummelled by rain which damaged the speakers and flooded the stage. Crowds outside the Sidney Myer Music Bowl.

Queues of hundreds of concert goers earlier snaked back towards St Kilda Road before the venue was reopened again before 8pm. A number of luxury cars were caught in the flooding, including a white Porsche that was seen floating in water in the notorious Dudley Street underpass. Thousands of train commuters were also left stranded after several lines were suspended. Train services on the Alamein, Belgrave, Glen Waverley, Lilydale and Sandringham lines have since resumed following major delays.

More than 50mm of rain has fallen in Altona, while Melbourne's CBD has copped a dunking of 38mm, Epping has been drenched with 37mm and Viewbank has had 35mm since 9am on Friday. "The rain is finally showing signs of slowing down tonight," the bureau's senior senior forecaster Richard Carlyon said at 7pm Friday. "But it's likely we could see another major downpour this weekend with the humid and unstable weather continuing." Meanwhile, more than 6000 homes in Melbourne’s south-western suburbs, including in Werribee, Hoppers Crossing and Truganina were left without power as the storm swept through the city. Almost 3000 homes in Bayside suburbs also experienced outages. Power has since been restored in both areas.

Flash flooding caused chaos in the CBD with people walking along Flinders Street finding themselves ankle deep in water, with some removing or abandoning their shoes altogether. A car floating in the Dudley street underpass. Credit:Nine News Rain gushed down the steps of Flinders Street train station underpass, wreaking havoc for commuters trying to get home from work.

Parts of Punt Road and Swan Street were also flooded with drivers getting out their cars to push them through the floodwaters. Flooding on Barkers Road, Hawthorn. Credit:Justin Morris The weather bureau issued a severe storm warning for Melbourne just before 5pm. Credit:BoM Wet weekend ahead

While the wild conditions are expected to ease over the coming days, it will be a soggy weekend in Melbourne. "We are not expecting heavy rain over the state, but expect conditions to remain unstable and showers and potentially thunderstorm activity around but not expecting heavy falls," said Bureau of Meteorology forecaster Peter Newham. Flash flooding on Glenferrie Road in Hawthorn. The Environment Protection Authority has urged swimmers to avoid beaches, with the heavy rains likely to impact water quality aroundPort Phillip Bay. “These heavy rains will result in poor water quality for a number of days,” EPA marine specialist applied scientist Alison Kemp said.

“Heavy rains affect water quality in the bay because as the rain flows into stormwaters drains, it collects everything from leaves and litter to animal wastes and chemicals. The then discharges into the bay. Birchip homes flooded About 20 homes in Birchip, in the state's north-west, were flooded on Thursday night after the regional town was hit with 167.8 millimetres of rain in two days, almost half of its yearly average. "A few locations recorded their daily rainfall records – one of those was Birchip, which recorded 130mm in 24 hours," said Bureau of Meteorology forecaster Peter Newham..

"That's the highest rainfall for any month, with 129 years of rainfall data." A caller told 3AW radio on Thursday that his street was "like an ocean" after water continued to rise. Another Birchip resident, Linda Goodman, who has lived there for five years, said she arrived home on Thursday afternoon to find her house surrounded by water. "It was ankle deep ... and it's just grown from then," she said. "The garage is now under water, we have about at least six inches of water in the garage and it is up to our top step this morning.

"It was a bit scary and it's really windy up here today, it's not nice. "Also, it's been very, very, very dry. People haven't seen this sort of water for ages. We've been in a drought situation." Homes in Birchip have been surrounded by floodwater, with more rain forecast for Friday. Credit:Stephanie Coffey Water in Linda Goodman's front garden in Birchip on Friday morning. Credit:Linda Goodman Flood water which rose overnight in Birchip. Credit:SES North West Region

Commuters struggled to get to work on Thursday as flash flooding hit the city. Credit:Justin McManus A line of cars on the Hume Freeway near Wangaratta on Thursday. Credit:Taylor McPhail