‘Completely trashed’: Inside Qld town hammered by devastating hailstorm
On the opening day of her cafe, Emma Manley would never have imagined she would be ushering customers to safety as skylights shattered and hail rained down inside.
Emma Manley has been excitedly preparing to open MJ’s Cafe and Bar for weeks, so when a destructive hailstorm struck town on the opening day it was a big blow.
MJ’s Cafe and Bar is located in Pratten, one of the towns most severely hit by dangerous storms and giant hail on Saturday.
The town recorded hail the size of cricket balls, damaging buildings, homes, and solar panels.
Ms Manley said their opening day had got off to a good start until the storms hit.
“It was going really well before that, and then it was pretty traumatic for everyone involved,” she said.
“It was emotional that that happened on opening day. I’m a bit deflated.”
Ms Manley said she never expected the storm to be as bad as it was.
“In the beginning it was quite novel. We got some rain which we were all hoping for because we were in a drought,” she said.
“Then it was small tiny little bits of hail, and the kids were sort of picking it up and having fun when it changed.”
She said then all of a sudden it became dangerous.
“One sort nearly hit a small child, and at that point it was golf-ball sized and then it was tennis-ball sized,” she said.
“They started hitting concrete, and furniture, and the building and then just ricocheting off.
“It was sort of unbelievable that we would get that big hail and that much of it.”
Ms Manley said about 20 people took shelter in the cafe.
“The skylights all came in, it was raining and hailing inside so we ushered everyone into the kitchen to stay safe,” she said.
“It was a bit crazy especially for the people who had pulled in seeking refuge, a few had been on the road when they’d [the hail] came through the windshield.”
Ms Manley said they eventually tarped up the gaping roof.
She said the damage was pretty big and widespread across Pratten.
“Pretty much every solar panel in town is gone, completely trashed,” she said.
“A lot of people don’t have insurance, so that’s pretty devastating.
“Some of them are only on solar, so now they’ve got no water, no sewage, no electricity, no heating or cooling.”
She said their car was one of the many write-offs in town.
“Most of the cars that weren’t undercover, most of them are all write-offs,” she said.
Ms Manley said they hoped to have everything cleaned up so they could reopen on Wednesday.
Originally published as ‘Completely trashed’: Inside Qld town hammered by devastating hailstorm
