Daily London
The parade of destructive storms formed in the Gold Coast hinterland early this afternoon and rolled north, causing the worst damage on Bribie Island, north of Brisbane.
Helicopter footage showed the roof peeled off one home, leaving the kitchen exposed to the elements and the resident on the destroyed back patio, shocked by the damage.
In an update this morning, Energex said about 95,000 customers were still without power, down from a peak of 162,000 yesterday.
Moreton Bay was one of the hardest hit regions, with 54,000 without power there alone.
“As of 5.30am (AEST), there were more than 600 powerlines down, and Energex counted more than 880,000 lightning strikes during the storms yesterday,” Energex said in a statement.
“The restoration of power is likely to continue late into Wednesday in some areas, due to the extent of the damage and difficult access.”
The energy provider urged people to take care in clearing debris, as it could be covering fallen powerlines.
Locals were seen hauling fallen trees off roads to clear a path.
The storm only lasted a few minutes but there was widespread damage in other parts of the region too.
A roof peeled off a service station and flew into power lines in Beaudesert and hail, some as big as cricket balls, belted backyards from Cornubia, south of Brisbane, to Maleny, on the Sunshine Coast hinterland.
Manly, Ferny Hills and Alexandra Hills all copped 11-centimetre hail, with 14-centimetre hailstones recorded in Chandler.
In Loganlea, a carport crashed down, taking power lines with it and forcing two people inside to evacuate through a neighbouring fence.
A big clean-up job was already under way this afternoon after the State Emergency Services received more than 1000 callouts by 6pm, mostly in Brisbane, Redlands and Logan.
Severe thunderstorm warnings for several regions were cancelled later tonight.
The severe weather came the day after the area south of Brisbane was thrashed by hail as big as golf balls last night, caused by a supercell that roared across the Scenic Rim and Logan, Weatherzone said.
Locals were warned earlier today there was a chance of more dangerous supercell storms in south-east Queensland and across the border in Murwillumbah.
“Monday has all the ingredients for further severe thunderstorm development over northeast NSW and southeast Qld,” Weatherzone meteorologist Ben Domensino said earlier today.
“Monday’s severe thunderstorms are likely to cause heavy rain, damaging wind gusts in excess of 90 km/h and large hail measuring larger than 2cm in diameter in some areas.
The Bureau of Meteorology also issued warnings.
“A warm and humid airmass is combining with a southerly wind change and a low-pressure trough to trigger severe thunderstorms across the Northern Rivers this afternoon,” it said.
“Severe thunderstorms are generally moving to the north and northeast and are expected to contract towards the Queensland border. Severe thunderstorms also moving into the southwest of the State.”
Storms are forecast for the rest of the week.
