Thousands without power and more storms on the way, warns bureau

The Bureau of Meteorology says it can’t rule out more wild weather across southeast Queensland this week after a severe storm lashed the region yesterday.

ABC

Oct 26, 2020, updated Oct 26, 2020

An example of the damage caused by wild storms, at Karana Downs in October last year. (Photo: Supplied, QFES)

The system brought destructive winds of up to 93km/h, almost 190,000 lightning strikes and heavy rain.

A man in his 30s was struck by a falling tree during the storm, at a private property at Karalee yesterday afternoon.

A Queensland Ambulance Service spokeswoman said the man suffered head, shoulder and chest injuries.

Critical care paramedics took him to the Princess Alexandra Hospital in a serious but stable condition.

The worst-affected storm areas were Karalee, Karana Downs, Mount Cotton and Victoria Point.

Senior BOM forecaster Kimba Wong said 20-40mm of rain fell across Brisbane in a short period of time.

“The highest falls were 56mm at Luggage Point near the airport and the same for Brighton,” Wong said.

“We had some reports of large hail — almost giant hail really — 4cm to 5cm hail around Oxley, 4cm hail around Victoria Point and 3cm to 4cm hail at Mount Cotton.”

Energex crews have been back out since first light this morning repairing its network.

At one stage, 33,000 homes and businesses were without power, down to 1400 this morning.

Energex spokesman Danny Donald told ABC Radio Brisbane the storm was a “ripper” with lines outside Ipswich and in the Redlands brought down.

“In one area we had every single wire pulled down for 10 power poles.

“It was an absolute ripper, those winds were just picking up whole tree branches and just throwing them into power lines for hundreds of metres,” he said.

The forecast for Brisbane today is calmer, with a morning shower or two, but the BOM’s Kimba Wong said there may be more storms to come.

“From tomorrow into Wednesday we do have the chance of some severe storms in the area once again .. so always a good idea to keep up to date with the latest forecasts and warnings over the next couple of days.”