Cows killed as storms smash Wide Bay Burnett
Cattle have been discovered dead, an island road has been “washed away” and homes and businesses in parts of the Wide Bay face a big clean up after Saturday’s wild storms. *Distressing content
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Dead cows were among the confronting finds as residents and tourists in the Wide Bay Burnett woke to survey the carnage after a day of wild weather, storms, hail and lightning strikes.
While parts of the region were spared the worst and welcomed soaking rain, patches of a severe system spanning 1000kms downed trees, battered buildings and caused flash flooding from Gympie up to the Fraser Coast and Bundaberg.
At Gympie, small hail was reported and the city recorded wind gusts of 93km/h (sheds at the Polley’s Bus Depot were battered and crumpled roller doors will need replacing) and Cedar Pocket Dam recorded 64mm of rain within an hour.
Mary St businesses reported a sewerage leak from the centre stage toilets in the morning which left shoppers reeling from the smell as well as trying to avoid wading through it.
On the Fraser Coast, farmer Aaron Broom posted photos of dead cattle which had been struck by lightning,
“Just had a wild storm come through our property on the Fraser Coast in SEQ and a lightning strike killed 5 cows. Never had this before, poor buggers were in the wrong spot at the wrong time. Just glad there wasn’t more huddled up in the weather,” Mr Broom posted.
Multiple lightning strikes had been reported throughout Saturday’s storms starting on the Sunshine Coast where a man on an excavator was rushed to hospital after being struck at Eudlo and Mooloolaba resident Debbie Battaglini-Clarke shared a photo of lighting snapping a tree in half outside her home.
A man in his 30s was also taken to Caboolture hospital after his car was struck by lightning on the Bruce Hwy at Burpengary on Saturday morning.
In Maryborough, Mimi Lee-Gadischke posted on the Maryborough Community Facebook page calling for an electrician after a lightning strike on her meter box late Saturday.
“Just had Ergon out after lightning hit our meter box, apparently we need an electrician to test before Ergon can restore power,” she wrote.
There were also reports a trailer was struck by lightning in the car park of the Maryborough Speedway at Tinana where the evening’s big night of racing was cancelled as the storm rolled in about 2pm.
Fraser Coast Mayor George Seymor said on Sunday the SES had responded to 12 call outs locally.
He said on K’gari (Fraser Island) the main road into Happy Valley had been washed away with no alternative route in and the council was currently working at getting machinery and contractors onto the island to ensure access.
Between Gympie and Maryborough, Holli van Slooten shared a photo of a small bridge caving in along Counter Rd in Wolvi while residents in Glenwood shared flash flooding on some of their roads.
“Be careful on Arborthree Rd,” Julie Pates wrote.
A Queensland Fire and Emergency Services spokeswoman said authorities responded to more than 100 calls for assistance on Saturday.
The spokeswoman said the majority of Saturday’s calls were in the Brisbane and the north coast regions in response to fallen trees and structural damages to properties.
On Sunday there were no longer flood warnings in place specifically for the Mary River, however a flood watch remained for the Wide Bay as a whole a Bureau of Meteorology spokesman said.
“Localised flash flooding may still be possible from isolated small storms across the region,” he said
“Residents are encouraged to be aware of storms and flash flooding as the recent rainfall moves along the catchments around the region.”
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