Torbanlea, Howard hit by ‘supercell’ storm

Highway traffic was brought close to a standstill and residents rushed for cover as hail, heavy rain and destructive winds hit parts of the Fraser Coast. Watch the video.

A supercell storm “smashed” its way through Howard and Torbanlea on Monday afternoon.

The Bureau of Meteorology issued a severe thunderstorm warning on Monday afternoon that included the possibility of “giant hail stones, damaging winds and heavy rainfall that may lead to flash flooding”.

Higgins Storm Chasing also warned Fraser Coast townships that a “dangerous supercell” was on the way.

A spokesperson from the Bureau said while there was a severe thunderstorm warning in place for the Wide Bay, tornadoes were difficult to forecast, and warnings were only issued if the Bureau sees signs on the radar that are consistent with tornadoes.

Mandy Collins was watching the Bureau of Meteorology website when she saw the storm growing in size, just before it hit.

Fortunately for her and husband Brett, they had almost finished building a shed on their Howard property and they were able to safely park their newly painted ute out of the hail just as it began to fall.

Outside, they weren’t so lucky, as 3cm hail began crashing through the sheeting on the roof of their back veranda.

“We got smashed,” she said.

“It came through like a whirlwind.”

Mandy said with three skylights installed in their home, they watched on anxiously, but thankfully the indoor installations fared better than the sheeting outside their home.

Bindi Branch was on the road at the Bruce Highway near Howard when the heavy rain started to pour down.

She said the visibility was reduced to the point where they could go no faster than 20km/h.

“It just got worse and worse,” she said.

The sound of the rain made her suspect hail was falling alongside the heavy deluge.

When they were stopped at roadworks, she opened her door and her fears were confirmed.

Thankfully, however, she said it appeared no damage had been done to their vehicle.”

“I’m glad we made it home safe.”