BRISBANE and nearby areas were left in turmoil by fierce electrical storms that hit the city at peak hour this evening, with heavy hail breaking windows in a high-rise building, flash flooding and light aircraft being upturned at the city’s second airport.
A violent storm which ripped through Brisbane has reportedly left a woman injured and caused widespread property damage.
Fallen powerlines, trees and other debris strewn across roads caused traffic chaos in central Brisbane.
Social media carried images of cars in flooded streets as well as a high-rise building with several holes in a glass exterior.
Police urged motorists to delay non-essential travel so emergency services could attend to the widespread damage.
Most train services across the city were suspended, the King George Square bus station was closed and there were major delays on many bus services and minor delays to ferries.
The power company Energex said more than 80,000 homes were without power across Queensland’s southeast, most in the Brisbane area.
Four light aircraft were flipped and extensively damaged when severe winds hit Archerfield Airport.
An airport spokesman said some doors were blown off hangars, with one door landing 150 metres away, and communications to the air traffic control tower was also affected.
The ABC reported that a woman was treated by paramedics after being hit by a falling tree at West End.
Queensland Fire and Emergency Services said it had about 700 calls for assistance between about 4pm and 6pm.
The severe thunderstorm tore through the city late this afternoon, bringing golf ball sized hailstones, destructive winds up to 141 kilometres an hour and torrential rain.
Some low-lying roads in the central city, including Roma Street, turned into rivers and many roads are littered with street signs, broken glass and fallen trees.
Flash flooding was also reported at Inala in Brisbane’s west and Bowen Hills in the inner north.
State parliament was suspended for 15 minutes after large hailstones pummelled the Speakers Green.
The storm came from the west and was continuing out to sea.
The weather bureau had issued a severe warning for Brisbane city, Ipswich, Logan, Redland and Moreton Bay. It warned of further storms tonight in southeast Queensland,
“Golf-ball hail and a 141km/h wind gust has been recorded from the [Brisbane] southern suburbs,” the Bureau of Meteorology said tonight.
with AAP