Thousands lose power as Christmas Eve storms wreak havoc
Updated ,first published
The Christmas Eve storm caused a power outage in Brisbane, affecting thousands of customers.
More than 3,000 households were left without power in the immediate aftermath of the storm.
About an hour later, power was restored to about a third (1,204 households) in the Indooroopilly and Chapel Hill area, but 1,845 homes were without power in Clayfield.
As of 5.30pm, only 371 Clayfield households were without power, but 258 households in Toowong were experiencing power outages.
All the outages were due to damage from the severe storm that hit Brisbane on Wednesday afternoon, with 50,000 lightning strikes recorded in south-east Queensland.
Suburbs on the Sunshine Coast were also experiencing outages; Initially, 1076 households were affected, but electricity was restored in most of them.
“Where conditions have eased and it is safe to go, Energex crews will carry out diagnostic patrols to assess damage and repairs required,” a spokesman said.
“Estimated restoration times will be updated in Outage Finder based on damage assessments.
“We have teams on standby 24/7, every day of the year for emergency response and will work to get the Christmas lights back on as quickly as safely possible.”
Minor outages were also observed in the affected suburbs, with some residents reporting their power was out for up to a minute before coming back on.
At 4.30pm the Bureau of Meteorology warned of heavy rainfall across the Greater Brisbane Region, including the Sunshine Coast, Southern Downs, Darling Downs and parts of Central Queensland. There was a possibility of hail on the Southern Downs.
Three storm cells were moving southeast. Toowong received 44mm of rain in about half an hour, while Chapel Hill and Kenmore saw less rainfall. CBD also experienced from 15mm to 20mm.
A second cell dropped around 30mm to 40mm just south of Ipswich, while the Sunshine Coast experienced 57mm falling in about 30 minutes.
The storms were expected to continue through the afternoon and into Christmas Day, tapering off overnight but picking up again around 10 a.m.
The heatwave warning has now been canceled and temperatures are expected to ease for the rest of the week.
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