Thousands without power after severe storms batter South East Queensland for fourth day
South East Queensland has been battered by storms for a fifth consecutive day, with thousands still without power across the region.
Much of the state’s south has again been battered by severe storms, with the damaging weather system finally easing for Thursday night after a fifth straight day of severe weather.
The weather bureau cancelled its final severe weather warning for South East Queensland at 9pm, following another night of relentless thunderstorms.
Several thunderstorms swept through the region for the fifth day in a row, unleashing hail, destructive winds and lightning strikes on Brisbane, Ipswich, City of Moreton Bay, Logan and the Gold Coast.
Around 2 million lightning strikes have been recorded across the region from Sunday afternoon to Thursday morning, according to Energex.
More than 3000 homes were still without power across Queensland at 5.30am on Friday, including 504 in Brisbane City and 1229 in City of Moreton Bay.
“We are hopeful of reconnecting … the remaining customers in the hardest hit areas by tomorrow (Friday),” Brett Judge from Energex said.
Homes in Dakabin were plunged into darkness just after 7pm, with many residents complaining of severe heat.
“To everyone in (Dakabin), who is currently living in a sauna, I think I’m definitely buying a generator,” one resident wrote on Facebook.
Other Energex outages at 9pm on Thursday were:
Logan: 2320
Sunshine Coast: 2200
Noosa: 1028
Ipswich: 903
Somerset: 360
Storms started hitting the southeast about 3pm, with several described as very dangerous by BOM.
The bureau said hail up to 4cm fell at Bardon about 3.30pm and there were hailstones measuring 2-3cm Milton around the same time.
Ipswich recorded hail around 3cm around 7.10pm.
There were also reports of hail up to 5cm at Rothwell.
Earlier, powerlines were damaged across Brisbane, with several traffic lights out on major roads as peak hour approached.
Crews raced to a fallen tree which snapped powerlines near Edith Street, Enoggera, in the early afternoon.
Around the same time, police were also diverting traffic on Gympie Road in Kedron, Waterworks Road in Ashgrove and Park Street in Kelvin Grove where key traffic lights have been hit with outages.
The Bureau said 57mm of rain had fallen at Fish Hole Creek, in the state’s north west, in the 30 minutes to 12.45pm. A total of 52mm of rain fell at Mareeba in the 30 minutes to 2.20.
Higgins Storm Chasing earlier on Thursday warned of a possible “rapid eruption of explosive storms” today, with isolated supercells capable of delivering giant hail.
“The time frames for these storms are earlier than normal due to atmospheric thresholds being reached … with the peak activity between 1-6pm,” Higgins reported.
“Temperatures haven’t climbed as quickly as anticipated but they’re pushing towards the 35-38C mark. Be patient, big storms are coming but the expectation was always that today will be more isolated than compared to Monday.”
In terms of heat, temperatures around South East Queensland have climbed into the mid-30s.
Brisbane’s hit 33.8C just before 2pm. Meanwhile, the mercury has climbed to 35.5 at Amberley, but with an apparent temperature of 38.4C.
Bureau of Meteorology senior meteorologist Miriam Bradbury said the severe thunderstorms were expected to bring wind gusts stronger than 90km/h, large hail and rain that could lead to flash flooding.
Ms Bradbury warned the storms would be most likely through the late morning to late afternoon, with a possibility they will continue into the evening in some parts of the state.
“What’s really causing them is the warm and moist conditions that are still sitting in the atmosphere over Queensland, including South East Queensland,” she said.
“Both the heat that we are seeing, and that moisture in the air, the humidity, they act as fuel for any storms that are developing.
“In addition to that, we’ve got a low pressure through, which is moving in from the west. That low-pressure trough acts like a trigger. It pushes the first domino over, and it’s likely to kick up those storms.
“We’ve seen a very similar environment across South East Queensland over the last few days, which is why we’ve unfortunately seen these storms occurring over the last few days, and today has that risk once again.”
It comes after a terrifying Wednesday night for the Darling Downs, where a 165km/h wind gust was recorded at Leslie Dam near Warwick. The sheer force of the wind uprooted an 80-year-old gum tree, while Goondiwindi Airport recorded a 107km/h gust just before 6.30pm.
Several homes in Warwick had roofs blown off and powerlines were downed across the region as emergency crews raced to multiple call-outs between 8.30pm and 9.40pm.
Thunderstorms have occurred daily since late last week, with the most severe dumping giant hail on Southeast Queensland on Sunday and Monday.
Millions of lightning pulses have been detected over eastern Australia in the last few days, including about 950,000 pulses within 200km of Brisbane between Sunday morning and Wednesday morning.
Weatherzone’s Ben Domensino said one of the key ingredient’s driving the volatile weather had been hot air spreading from Central Australia across Queensland and NSW.
“This outback heat, which was intensified by Tropical Cyclone Fina passing over northern Australia late last week, has caused temperatures to reach the low to mid-40s in parts of Queensland and NSW every day since Sunday,” he said.
Desperate Bribie Island residents earlier pleaded with the state government for financial help as thousands remain without power following Monday’s devastating storm.
It comes as residents smashed by Monday’s devastating storms will have access to disaster recovery grants.
The state and Commonwealth governments will offer $180 for individuals and up to $900 for a family of five or more to cover the costs of essentials like food, clothing and medicine.
Other support measures will assist low income and uninsured residents.
Moreton Bay residents in 37 of the worst affected localities will be able to apply for Personal Hardship Assistance.
Federal Emergency Management Minister Kristy McBain said the funding would drive recovery works.
“These storm systems left a significant trail of destruction, so our top priorities are the wellbeing of residents and restoring public safety,” she said.
“South East Queensland councils are well versed in disaster response and recovery, and this assistance will make sure they can work without delay.
Disaster Recovery Minister Ann Leahy said the significance of storms showed Queenslanders should be ready for anything.
“This disaster season is fast proving to be as destructive as it is unpredictable, and we all need to be prepared,” she said.
City of Moreton Bay will be able to recoup the costs of eligible disaster activities.
The suburbs eligible are: Banksia Beach, Beachmere, Bellara, Bellmere, Bongaree, Bracalba, Campbells Pocket, Corymbia, D’Aguilar, Delaneys Creek, Donnybrook, Elimbah, Godwin Beach, Greenstone, Kurwongbah, Lilywood, Meldale, Moorina, Mount Delaney, Mount Mee, Mount Pleasant, Neurum, Ningi, Ocean View, Rocksberg, Sandstone Point, Toorbul, Upper Caboolture, Wagtail Grove, Wamuran, Wamuran Basin, Waraba, Welsby, White Patch, Whiteside, Woodford, and Woorim.
Disaster Recovery Minister Ann Leahy earlier said work was still under way to determine if cash should be unlocked.
“Pockets of South East Queensland have been hit hard by the recent storms and my sympathies go out to those who have had their homes and businesses affected,” Ms Leahy said.
“Queenslanders know when it comes to disaster recovery we are with them for the long haul, and our disaster agencies are working closely with councils to ensure local communities have the support they need.”
Jonathon Taylor, 32, owner of The Crabpot Fish and Chips in Woorim, was forced to throw away “everything” after losing power for more than 48 hours.
Mr Taylor lost thousands of dollars in stock and at least three days of trade before a generator restored power at 5pm Wednesday.
“Obviously we would’ve liked it to be back on sooner,” Mr Taylor said.
“It’s a shame, but we’re all just trying to get on with it.”
Mr Taylor said they remained in the dark about when mains power would return.
“Powerlines are still down, so looks like it might not be on until Friday,” he said.
“It’s hard, but the show must go on.”
At the Blue Pacific Hotel in Woorim, bartender Laura Topfer, 43, estimated the pub had lost $40,000.
“We’re operating, but minimally. We can’t use our eftpos machines, we can’t use TAB or Keno because the internet’s still not up and running,” Ms Topfer said.
“We had to throw out basically everything from the kitchen and all of our milk supply for the coffee machine – thousands of dollars worth of stock.
“I tipped out 14 litres of milk this afternoon.”
Ms Topfer said staff had missed out on crucial wages and their Rockfest event was indefinitely postponed.
“It’s upsetting, but mostly everyone is happy they’re alive, even people who have lived here 35 years said it was the worst storm they’ve ever experienced,” she said.
“We’re just really hoping power can be restored soon. It’s always a lot slower here than on the mainland, but that’s just part of living here.”
Optus confirmed it had restored 149 mobile sites in the southeast, with 30 still offline due to power cuts. Telstra said 90 per cent of its sites were back online, though 14 mobile sites and 1709 landlines remained disrupted.
Insurers have received more than 27,800 claims for the southeast storms this week, with the event officially declared an “insurance catastrophe”.
Insurance Council of Australia chief executive Andrew Hall warned residents to be wary of “disaster chasers” offering quick-fix repairs for upfront cash.
“We encourage anyone who’s been impacted by recent storms to lodge a claim with their insurer, even if they don’t know the full extent of the damage,” Mr Hall said.
8C ABOVE AVERAGE: HEATWAVE GRIPS STATE
Queensland is in the grip of a brutal heatwave, with severe conditions affecting large parts of the state.
In the southeast, temperatures will reach 36C in Brisbane, but high humidity will make it feel closer to 40C.
On Wednesday, Birdsville recorded a scorching 43.6C, while Ballera, Thargomindah, Windorah, Longreach, Century Mine and Julia Creek all recorded temperatures of more than 41C on Wednesday.
But there’s little reprieve in sight until early next week, with Longreach, Winton, Isisford, Chinchilla, Julia Creek, Barcaldine and Blackall set to reach highs of more than 40C on Thursday.
The greater Brisbane region will swelter for most of the day, with Caboolture and Brisbane set to hit 36C by noon, but it will feel more like 40C.
Chermside will also reach 36C but feel slightly cooler with a “feels like” temperature of 38C.
South of Brisbane, Logan will fare a little better with a top of 35C, though humidity will still push the noon “feels like” temperature to 39C.
Bureau of Meteorology meteorologist Miriam Bradbury said temperatures are sitting at least 2C to 8C above the November average.
“Low to severe intensity heatwaves are continuing for much of the central and eastern parts of Queensland. Severe intensity heatwaves are impacting the north tropical coast, the central coast, the coast of the Wide Bay/Burnett, and the Southeast coast, extending down into the northern rivers of NSW,” she said.
“These severe heatwaves mean it will be difficult to manage the heat and heat stress on the body. People are advised to stay cool, stay indoors, and stay hydrated. The heat is expected to linger through Friday and into the early part of the weekend. A true cooling trend is not anticipated for much of NSW and Queensland until likely early next week.”
Fire danger ratings will remain high on Thursday in Central Highlands and Coalfields, Central West, Channel Country, Darling Downs and Granite Belt, Maranoa and Warrego, and Northern Goldfields and Upper Flinders, while the Southeast will see low fire danger ratings for the remainder of the week.
Originally published as Thousands without power after severe storms batter South East Queensland for fourth day
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