Roofs ripped off as wild storms smash Brisbane
A “cyclonic” storm that produced more than 120,000 lightning strikes cut power to nearly 80,000 homes and businesses.
Source: Mick Roughley [language warning]
Wild storms described as “cyclonic” have torn roofs off homes and left a trail of destruction in Brisbane, with at least 63,000 properties still without power on Thursday morning.
The intense storms smashed the Queensland capital on Wednesday afternoon, with Energex recording 120,000 lightning strikes.
The ferocity of the weather surprised residents south of the CBD, which was the worst-hit area, especially around Logan and Regents Park.
A line of storms also wreaked havoc north of Brisbane around Gympie.
Energex said it was working around the clock to repair “extensive damage” to the electricity network, which initially left 77,800 customers without power.
“Well over 400 powerlines have been brought down across south-east Queensland, with 85 per cent of these in the hard-hit Logan and Scenic Rim areas,” Energex said on Wednesday afternoon.
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“The culprits: 121,000 lightning strikes recorded since this afternoon and winds that clocked 125km/h.”
Energex warned that thousands would remain without power well into Thursday.
“The impacts are particularly significant around Jimboomba and Logan Village, and we’ve had reports of similarly serious damage in the North Maclean/Kingston area,” it said.
“Localised flash flooding and fallen trees are hampering access into many suspected damage sites.”
On Thursday morning, Queensland Police said the State Emergency Service has responded to more than 320 callouts since the previous afternoon.
They were made up of 243 Logan City, 41 in Brisbane City, 16 in Redlands and nine in Gympie. Most requests were for help with fallen trees affecting buildings or blocking property entries, and tarps for leaking roofs.
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Brisbane resident Mick Roughley posted a video of roof panels strewn across the road in Regents Park after the storm swept through. He described the impact like a “tornado”.
A high-set brick house had one whole section of its tin roof completely stripped away, leaving the house exposed to the rain.
Another video show torrential rainfall falling, along with hailstones, in a backyard at Logan Reserve.
Logan City councillor Teresa Lane said “grand old dame trees” in Anzac Park were “spliced in two by lightning and big winds”.
“Lucky for the area we moved the homeless out from under the trees last week and cordoned off the area they were staying in,” she posted to Facebook.
“If they remained there it would have been catastrophic.
“As it was one camper who refused to set up where it was requested had his tent smashed by a massive limb. [Police] checked and no one was in there at the time of the storm.”
The weather bureau had issued a severe storm warning just before 3.30pm Wednesday (local time) for damaging winds, giant hailstones and heavy rainfall across south-east Queensland.
Areas in the firing line included Gympie, Logan, Somerset, Scenic Rim, Gold Coast, Redland City, Sunshine Coast, Brisbane City, Moreton Bay, South Burnett, and Toowoomba.
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