Residents of Melbourne's highest residential skyscraper slept little as howling 100km/h winds made the tower sway back and forth and the floors creak loudly during the night.
The Australia 108 building at Southbank in the CBD is designed to sway. In July, during wild winds, infinity pools on the 70th floor created waves of sorts as the building moved from side to side.
But residents say the weather that lashed Melbourne on Thursday night made sleeping almost impossible as the swaying and creaking reached levels they had not felt before.
In audio played on ABC Mornings on Friday, the building could be heard loudly creaking as the wind pushed it around high above the ground.
Resident Ken Willis told host Virginia Trioli it was "quite terrifying".
"Looking at the messageboards this morning, sleep was at a premium," he said.
"We had technically force-12 gusts last night so I'm not surprised that it was the worst ever."
He said the swaying was not dangerous, but combined with the loud creaking it could be quite disconcerting.
"It's not dangerous, but emotionally for a lot of people, it is quite terrifying," he said.
"The creaking happens everywhere. In fact, the loudest sound was from the floor. That coupled with the intense howling of the wind. Even in something highly sealed it does create a tiny bit of airflow and suction. That was really intense wind."
The banging and creaking has become too much for some residents. According to The Age newspaper, the noises have been blamed for causing mental health problems and forcing owners to sell up.
On messageboards for Australia 108, residents admitted they "don't feel safe" and can't focus on work.
The weather wreaked havoc across Melbourne overnight and well into Friday leaving at least 150,000 homes and buildings without power.
State Emergency Service volunteers had been called to almost 2000 jobs for fallen trees and building damage in the space of 24 hours.
"It's carnage out there. Stay safe, and avoid road travel if possible," Victoria SES said.
Sky-High Waves: Melbourne's wild weather has created a wave pool, hundreds of metres above the ground.
— 10 News First Melbourne (@10NewsFirstMelb) July 29, 2021
Surreal vision posted by rapper @illyal showed large waves forming in a pool on the 70th floor of Australia 108 in Southbank, as gusts peaked at 100 km/h. #melbweather pic.twitter.com/WiFg5IaJnH
"If you must travel, stay alert for fallen trees and debris, and drive to conditions.
"As our volunteers continue to respond to a huge amount of requests for assistance, we thank you for your patience."
More than 30 Covid testing sites and six vaccination clinics were also forced to close across Victoria due to the wild weather.
Chief health officer Brett Sutton said the sites had been temporarily closed and he urged people to check the health department's website before venturing out.
"We'll be contacting people who've got a vaccination schedule that has to be deferred for a little bit longer," he said.
"We're obviously working very hard to get those sites back online as soon as possible. But we do appreciate your patience as we do that."
A severe weather warning remained in place for damaging winds in southern and eastern Victoria.
The weather bureau said winds were expected to ease in the vicinity of the Surf Coast by midday Friday, then continue to contract from the north and west to the Gippsland coast by later that afternoon.
The strongest gust in Melbourne was at Frankston Beach, which was hit by 122km/h winds at 7.56am.
Melbourne Airport recorded a gust of 119km/h, while St Kilda recorded 115km/h, Essendon Airport 107km/h and Laverton 102km/h.
Mt William in the Grampians recorded the strongest gust of 143km/h, while South Channel Island was hit by 135km/h gust.
— with NCA Newswire