Qld weather: Severe storms expected to deliver hail, possible flooding in South East

Storms that soaked the South East and delivered 260,000 lightning strikes and damaging winds to central parts of the state will continue today, with hail and flooding rain again on the radar.

Storms carrying the potential for hail, heavy rain and flash flooding are forecast to continue across South East Queensland on Monday.

It comes across a weekend that left parts of the state soaked, with flash-flooding cutting dozens of roads north-west of Brisbane, and after wild storms in Central Queensland that delivered nearly 260,000 lightning strikes, wind gusts over 100km/h and knocked out power to 14,000 properties.

Rockhampton, Blackwater, Rolleston, Clermont, Dysart, Capella and Yeppoon were the hardest hit areas.

About 600 homes remained without power at lunchtime on Monday, with extra crews working to restore services.

The majority of outages are in and around Blackwater with about 440 properties without power, while 105 properties remain without power in the Rockhampton suburbs of Allenstown and The Range.

The storm uprooted trees in Gracemere and trampolines were caught up in the strong winds and carried into neighbouring yards across the region.

Gracemere resident Hollie Cope is heartbroken by the huge trees, vegetation and fences damaged by the wild weather, but grateful her house and family were unscathed.

“Our place takes a lot of hard work to make it immaculate,” she said.

“It’s going to take a lot of hard work to get back to what it was but very thankful the storm was kind enough to not destroy our home structure.”

A large eucalyptus tree has fallen in the centre of Rockhampton Zoo, blocking some pathways.

In the South East, the Bureau of Meteorology says early clear skies will make way for rain, with storms expected to pick up throughout the day.

“As we get into around the middle of the day, we will start to see those showers build across central and eastern areas … and some of those will likely turn into severe thunderstorms today with another risk that areas of heavy rainfall may lead to flash flooding,” senior meteorologist Angus Hines said.

“Damaging wind gusts are possible again today, much like we saw yesterday in some areas and we could even see some large hail through parts of central and south-eastern Queensland if those storms really get going this afternoon.”

Areas with active flood warnings include the Stuart River, Warrill Creek and Beaudesert all located inland in the southeast.

It follows a wet weekend across the Southeast, with the Gold Coast recording more than 100mm of rain and more than 50mm falling in parts of Brisbane and the Sunshine Coast on Sunday.

Moving into the remainder of the week, the chance of wet weather is expected to diminish across the state’s southeast and increase across central and northern parts of Queensland, with rain expected every day of the week.

Originally published as Qld weather: Severe storms expected to deliver hail, possible flooding in South East