About 26,000 households had been with out energy in south-east Queensland on Monday morning after a extreme thunderstorm handed over the state, with wind gusts topping 109km/h. Residents reported large hailstones of as much as 7cm in some areas.
Greater than 1,300 power clients in Victoria additionally woke with out energy, after Melbourne recorded its wettest day in a yr and a half. A lot of these outages had been resolved by early Monday afternoon.
Energex, which distributes energy to 1.5m houses and companies in south-east Queensland, mentioned the storms had brought about “vital harm”, bringing wires down throughout the higher Brisbane area. On Sunday night time the corporate mentioned virtually 70 crews had been working to revive energy.
“This afternoon’s storm has completely smashed our community!” the state-owned firm wrote on social media. “If you happen to can see wires down, please keep effectively clear and name 000.”
The Bureau of Meteorology confirmed on Monday morning that areas throughout Queensland had been hit with giant hailstones. Stones about 4cm in dimension had been seen in Ipswich, 5cm in Moorooka and Goonda, 5cm to 6cm in Pullenvale and 7cm in St Lucia.
Different areas in south-east Queensland skilled extreme winds, together with gusts of about 95km/h in Amberley and Archerfield. Gayndah recorded gusts reaching 109km/h.
Lightning additionally stopped play throughout Sunday’s Pacific Cup Males’s rugby league match between Samoa and Tonga in Brisbane, with spectators instructed to maneuver and shelter because the storm hit.
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Damp circumstances had been anticipated to linger alongside a lot of jap Queensland this week as a low-pressure trough continued to attract in moisture in opposition to the coast. Tuesday was forecast to be the wettest day.
In Victoria SES officers obtained 598 requests for help throughout the state, largely for constructing harm, but in addition for downed timber and flooding. A lot of these calls have been addressed however the SES was engaged on greater than 100 requests on Monday morning.
Probably the most affected suburbs had been Werribee, Hoppers Crossing and Wyndham, the place there have been a “fairly vital” 179 requires help, the SES mentioned.
Massive hailstones in central Victoria from storms that lashed the state on Sunday. {Photograph}: Calla Wahlquist/The Guardian
Brigette Boyd, a resident of Werribee, instructed ABC Radio Melbourne the storm sounded “terrible”.
“As I opened the door the wind almost blew me again so I needed to shut the door and keep inside,” Boyd mentioned.
One other resident, recognized as Tara, instructed Radio Melbourne the storm was the “kind of stuff out of a film”. She mentioned a 10-foot trampoline in her yard was blown “someplace in Werribee” and that her pergola roof was caught on close by energy strains.
“And hastily, this massive wind got here from nowhere. It ripped off my pergola like a tin of sardines. I’m not joking,” Tara mentioned. “My accomplice obtained lifted and dropped whereas me and my children watched from the window. It was terrifying. It’s actually the stuff from motion pictures.”
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“I watched this factor like I used to be watching Tornado. It was terrifying.”
At one level on Sunday greater than 28,000 power clients in Victoria had been with out energy.
Melbourne was additionally hit by heavy rain. Within the 24 hours from 9am on Sunday town’s climate station at Melbourne Olympic Park recorded 35.4mm of rainfall, essentially the most since April 2024, in response to BoM knowledge.
A Bom spokesperson mentioned a “short-lived twister” might have struck components of Melbourne’s western suburbs, however consultants are nonetheless analysing climate patterns and harm within the space to find out what befell.
“A slim path of storm-related wind harm was noticed throughout some western suburbs of Melbourne, together with Wyndham Vale and Hoppers Crossing,” the spokesperson instructed Guardian Australia. “This may occasionally have been the results of a short-lived twister, however that is unconfirmed at this time limit. Additional evaluation will probably be undertaken right now.”
Victoria’s chief well being officer, Dr Caroline McElnay, warned that there was an elevated likelihood of epidemic thunderstorm bronchial asthma throughout the state’s northern nation area.
In November 2016 Melbourne skilled the world’s largest epidemic thunderstorm bronchial asthma occasion, overwhelming emergency companies and resulting in 10 deaths.
– with AAP
