Australian Thunderstorms blow roof off at hospital
Pastor Dale Morgan
Australian Thunderstorms blow roof off at hospital*
October 11, 2007 09:16pm
Article from: AAP
A CENTRAL Queensland hospital was damaged and lost power after storms
continued to pummel the state for the fifth straight day.
An Emergency Management Queensland spokesman tonight said incoming rain
caused a blackout at Moura hospital after a roof was blown off this
afternoon.
He said the roof came off an elevated walkway between buildings at the
hospital.
Back-up generators were used as electricians worked to restore power and
emergency crews repaired the roof.
Falling trees damaged two Moura homes and another at nearby Biloela this
afternoon.
The Bureau of Meteorology issued a severe thunderstorm warning for Wide
Bay and Burnett areas north of Brisbane at about 7.50pm (AEST) today.
A spokesman said "very dangerous thunderstorms" were detected near
Dalby, Bell, Bunya Mountains, Kingaroy and Kilcoy, west of Brisbane – an
area that copped a battering last night.
Twenty-two homes in Jandowae, west of Brisbane, were damaged, with 15
partially losing their roofs and three homes completely without their
roofs today.
A bureau spokesman said a more general severe thunderstorm warning was
also current for the Central Coast and Whitsundays, Capricornia in
central Queensland, Maranoa and Warrego, Darling Downs and Granite Belt,
west of Brisbane, and parts of the Central Highlands and central west.
He said hail the size of golf balls was reported to have fallen 60km
north of Alpha, in the state's central west, at 3.30pm (AEST).
The wild storms have been felt all the way into the corridors of power
in Queensland.
Premier Anna Bligh told State Parliament today of the "chaos" when an
official state function was affected by a lightning strike earlier this
week.
"The first of those storms here in southeast Queensland earlier this
week saw 10,000 lightning strikes across the Brisbane region in just a
few hours," she said.
"I was here at a function in Parliament House, which was struck by
lightning and it caused the bells to go off, causing quite a bit of chaos."
Ms Bligh told Parliament that crews had restored power to more than
160,000 homes and businesses in southeast Queensland since Sunday.
"There is always a silver lining, though. We have had some rain, which
is great to see," Ms Bligh said.
"In the last 24 hours we have seen 19mm into the Wivenhoe Dam and 218mm
into North Pine (dam)."