Thousands of Aussies without power after Severe storms hit
Pastor Dale Morgan
*
*Thousands of Aussies without power after Severe storms hit
*
November 15, 2006 04:08pm
Article from: AAP
AUSTRALIA - HOMES have been damaged and thousands of people are without
electricity after short but spectacular storms dumped heavy rain and
hailstones across south-east Queensland.
Hail and thunderstorms developed about 12.15pm (AEST) south-west of Esk
today and began moving east to south-east, across Ipswich and towards
Brisbane and the Gold Coast.
The storm struck Brisbane about 1.25pm and lasted for about half an
hour, dumping small hailstones and sending pedestrians in the CBD
running for cover.
Small hailstones were also reported in Ipswich, Mount Coot-tha and
Toowong in the city's west and in Brisbane's southside.
Two cars were crushed by trees at Toowong and Paddington, while a house
in Red Hill lost its roof and a home in Windsor was struck by lightning,
ABC radio has said.
Some train services had also been affected around the city, with trees
strewn over the tracks.
A spokeswoman for the State Emergency Services said it was yet to
receive reports about damage to the Brisbane area.
However, she said there had been two calls for help in Esk, with one
home suffering damage to its roof from a falling tree, and another
having part of its roof blown away.
In another storm cluster this morning, hailstones the size of cricket
balls were reported in the Wide Bay area, although no damage was caused.
A spokesman for electricity distributor Energex said around 12,500 homes
were without power in a wide area stretching from Ipswich, west of
Brisbane, to the bayside suburb of Wynnum.
The worst affected area was in the inner western suburbs as well as some
homes and businesses at Logan and Beenleigh, south of Brisbane.
Meteorologist Don Cameron said the storms were "short and sweet" and
moving very fast at 50kph, causing gale force winds.
He said only a few millimetres of rain had fallen in most areas.
"Whilst we had heavy rain it was of short duration," he said. "We are
getting totals of less than 2mm generally out of it."
However, Mr Cameron said a "fairly decent cell" fell over Amberley, west
of Brisbane, with 7.6mm in 40 minutes.
The storms were expected to move north of Brisbane to the Sunshine Coast
and Gympie areas.
"There's still further activity. Currently, there are storms to the east
of Dalby and near Taroom," Mr Cameron said.
Emergency Management Queensland has advised people in those areas to
move cars under cover or away from trees and to secure outdoor items.