Lightning reportedly strikes Gold Coast home during wild storm

A Gold Coast home has reportedly been struck by lightning during a wild weekend storm. Read the latest

Pimpama home reportedly struck by lightning. Picture: Supplied.

A home has reportedly been struck by lightning, trees brought crashing down, and a business damaged during a wild storm which lashed the Gold Coast on Saturday evening.

The furious lightening and deluge of rain hit late in the afternoon with emergency services responding about 4.50pm to the Kmart at Global Plaza in Oxenford.

A Queensland Ambulance Service spokesman said the internal roof to the premises collapsed while customers were inside shopping. Three crews attended the incident but no one was injured.

About 10 minutes later firefighters responded to a blaze inside a roof at a home on Mercer St in Pimpama. A Queensland Fire Department (QFD) spokesman said upon arrival crews found smoke issuing from the premises through a hole in the roof.

A large tree which was brought crashing down at Mermaid Waters during the storm on Saturday. Picture: Supplied.

Crews were able to extinguish the fire quickly and limited further damage to the single story home. Nearby residents reported seeing lightning strike the roof of the premises followed by a loud bang before the flames took hold. The QFD spokesman said the cause of the blaze was unknown. The wild weather brought heavy bursts of rain across several hours for large parts of the Coast, with the gauge near Currumbin Creek recording nearly 60mm in the three hours to midnight. Worongary, Mudgeeraba and Bonogin all recorded about 50mm of rain over the same period.

A number of large trees were brought crashing down in Mermaid Waters by strong winds.

Originally published as Lightning reportedly strikes Gold Coast home during wild storm