By Anthony Gough, Renee Viellaris | Herald Sun
A damaging storm has turned “day into night” in Brisbane, as lightning and winds brought down powerlines and left more than 6000 homes and businesses without electricity.
Meanwhile, another severe thunderstorm warning has been issued for other parts of the state.
The Queensland State Emergency Service was busy cleaning up the Brisbane CBD this afternoon after wild weather ripped through the city around 11am today.
In Ipswich, a small grass fire was sparked when lightning struck a crane next to the city’s hospital just after 10am but the incoming rain extinguished it, a Department of Community Services spokeswoman told AAP.
In Ann Street in the CBD, a hotel roof collapsed under the storm while another 72 calls for assistance were made asking for help with leaking roofs and fallen trees,”It turned day into night,” a SES worker said. ”It came quickly and then it left.” A weather alert was posted by the Bureau of Meteorology just minutes before rain smacked the east coast, leaving thousands of people without power.
Weatherzone reported more than 4000 lightning strikes within 80km of Brisbane in the space of one hour. A police spokesman said 50 people were evacuated from an inner-city building after the storm caused a partial cave-in of the roof of a lodge in the inner suburb of Wilston. He said the storm had also caused a minor fire in Seventeen Mile Rocks, in Brisbane’s south-west, after a house was struck by lightning.
For full coverage of the storm go to www.couriermail.com.au
Police also reported they fallen trees across roads in Milton, Kangaroo Point and the Fortitude Valley area. People in Brisbane, Redlands, North Stradbroke and parts of the Gold Coast. Logan and Moreton Bay have been badly hit with thousands of homes left without power, falshing flooding and partial road closures.
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