Qld weather: 800km danger zone as rain, wind, hail to smash state

Queenslanders reeling from ferocious storms earlier this week have been warned to expect another battering, with more wild weather on the way including the potential for 100km/h winds and giant hail.

Queenslanders reeling from the Christmas night storm which cut a path of destruction across the South East have been warned to expect another battering, with more wild weather on the way including the potential for 100km/h winds and giant hail.

With the region baking in heatwave conditions, severe thunderstorms are predicted to hit on Saturday, placing further strain on people, property and trees already compromised by Monday night’s onslaught.

Modelling from the Bureau of Meteorology has created a danger area stretching from northern NSW as far north as Rockhampton and as far west as Roma, with a vast part of Queensland in the firing line.

Higgins Storm Chasing says the situation is “very volatile” and there was a risk of dangerous storms with “torrential rainfall leading to rapid and dangerous flash flooding, destructive winds over 125km/h and giant hailstones over 5cm in diameter”.

Storm forecast(Sat): SEVERE STORMS LIKELY in #Brisbane#GoldCoast#SunshineCoast and SE QLD. DAMAGING WIND (>90 km/h) LARGE HAIL (>2cm) HEAVY RAIN all concerns. VERY DANGEROUS STORM with DESTRUCTIVE WINDS, GIANT HAIL, INTENSE RAIN possible. Monitor warning https://t.co/FBmpsInT9opic.twitter.com/0T1UHC8FBt

— Bureau of Meteorology, Queensland (@BOM_Qld) December 28, 2023

The warning comes as a veteran energy worker labelled Monday’s carnage as “twice as bad” as Cyclone Yasi.

Temperatures soared across the state on Friday, with a number regions recording their hottest December day in four years.

Brisbane had a high of 38.3C and Birdsville was the hottest town in the state at 46C, both recording their warmest December day since 2019.

Gold Coast Mayor Tom Tate said on Friday that he understood Saturday’s predicted storms would not be as severe as the earlier tempest, but “Mother Nature is unpredictable”.

“Tomorrow is the D Day for more storms – 125km/h winds, large hail and severe rain,” he said. “I would rather err on the side of caution and if it turns out to be a fizzer then that’s great. (But) we’re getting ready and we’re rolling up our sleeves.”

Mr Tate said there were no plans to order evacuations from areas likely to be in the firing line, and again rejected calls from residents that the Australian Defence Force should be mobilised to respond to the recovery mission.

Acting Inspector Nick Sellars from Gold Coast Police said authorities were “planning for the worst but hoping for the best”.

BOM meteorologist Jonathan How said the predicted storms had the potential to be “very dangerous”.

“We could see very dangerous thunderstorms bringing flash flooding, destructive winds and giant hail,” he said.

Rainfall totals of around 30mm have been predicted, but Mr How said those totals could be much higher in areas of intense storm activity.

Those predictions will be greeted with dread by residents whose houses are now covered with tarpaulins or featuring gaping holes after Monday’s storms, while suburbs of the north and western parts of the Gold Coast are still cleaning up after the wild weather lifted ancient gum trees and flung them into houses and across roadways.

Local disaster co-ordinator Mark Ryan said plans were being made to keep people safe.

“We’re aware of where the most needed areas are and we’re working with our emergency services on the ground to get that message to our community,” he said. “It’s not only those without power, it’s those that have sustained damage that may not be able to withstand the next storm.”

Severe storms are forecast to hit huge sections of Queensland on Saturday. Image: Windy Weather

Energex group leader Josh Kerswill has experienced the worst of the disasters across the state for more than a decade, including carrying out emergency works in the Far North in the wake of Cyclone Jasper this month.

He said the extent of the destruction inflicted on the region during the severe storms this week had shocked and overwhelmed his colleagues.

“The scale that we’re dealing with in the South East, to me, is probably equivalent to twice what Cyclone Yasi put out,” Mr Kerswill said of the natural disaster that tore through North Queensland in 2011. “It’s widespread – it covers a large populated area, so everyone working here is quite shocked at the extent of the damage.”

There are still 21,000 properties on the Gold Coast without power, down from almost 100,000 on Boxing Day.

Residents in the Northern Gold Coast have stepped up their recovery efforts ahead of the predicted weekend storms.

The storm south of Brisbane, on Boxing Day. Picture: Nigel Hallett

Oxenford residents Adam and Carma Bailey have been cleaning up the remains of their roof that flew off during the storm and into their pool.

The 48-year-old couple and daughter Jesse, 24, had been at Mr Bailey’s parent’s house on Christmas evening.

Adam and Jesse returned home earlier than Carma and “as (she) was coming home, the cyclone started coming so we lost power pretty early and the gates were locked … she was in a van outside with my brother”, Mr Bailey said.

“We were in the single-storey part of the house … I think (the storm) punched a hole in the roof so water was gushing into the stairwell … next minute there was creaking and groaning and the roof of the top storey collapsed.”

Carma, Adam and Jesse Bailey outside their damaged Oxenford home. Picture Glenn Hampson

Mrs Bailey said as she was in the van with Mr Bailey’s brother when “gates started flying in front of us”.

“I thought we were going to tip over, there was another little car that was still driving up the road and he was sliding across the road the wind was so strong,” she said.

“We definitely thought we were going to die, that’s for sure …

“With all the trees flying around … if anything flew in the window we could have been gone in seconds.”