Thousands without power in Queensland as Victoria experiences ‘terrifying’ winds after year’s wettest day | Australia weather

About 26,000 households South-east Queensland was left without power on Monday morning as a severe storm passed through the state and wind gusts exceeded 109km per hour. Residents reported that huge hailstones of up to 7 cm were formed in some areas.

more than that 1,300 energy customers Victoria also woke up without power after Melbourne recorded its wettest day in a year and a half. Most of these outages were resolved by Monday afternoon.

Energex, which distributes electricity to 1.5 million homes and businesses in south-east Queensland, said the storms caused “significant damage” and cables were down in the Brisbane area. On Sunday night, the company said about 70 crews were working to restore power.

“This afternoon’s storm absolutely destroyed our network!” state-owned company wrote on social media. “If you see cables being cut, please stay away and call 000.”

The Bureau of Meteorology confirmed areas across Queensland were hit by large hailstones on Monday morning. Stones around 4cm in size were seen at Ipswich, 5cm at Moorooka and Goonda, and 5 to 6cm at Pullenvale. 7cm In St Lucia.

Other areas in south-east Queensland experienced strong winds, including winds of around 95 kilometers per hour in Amberley and Archerfield. Gayndah recorded winds reaching 109 km/h.

Yildirim also halted play in the Pacific Cup Men’s rugby league match between Samoa and Tonga in Brisbane on Sunday, with spectators told to move and take shelter as the storm hit.

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Wet conditions were expected to continue across much of eastern Queensland this week as a low pressure trough continues to draw moisture towards the coast. Tuesday was predicted to be the rainiest day.

In Victoria, SES officials received 598 requests for assistance across the state, mostly for building damage but also downed trees and flooding. Most of these calls were answered but the SES was working on more than 100 requests on Monday morning.

The SES said the worst-affected suburbs were Werribee, Hoppers Crossing and Wyndham, where there were 179 calls for help that were “quite significant”.

Werribee resident Brigette Boyd told ABC Radio Melbourne the storm felt “terrible”.

“When I opened the door, the wind almost blew me back, so I had to close the door and stay inside,” Boyd said.

Another resident, identified as Tara, told Radio Melbourne the storm was “like something out of a movie”. He said the 10-foot trampoline in his garden had flown “somewhere in Werribee” and the pergola roof had become stuck in nearby power lines.

“And all of a sudden this big wind came out of nowhere. It ripped off my pergola like a can of sardines. I’m not kidding,” Tara said. “My wife was picked up and dropped while my children and I watched from the window. It was horrific. Literally like in the movies.”

“I watched this thing like I was watching Twister. It was terrible.”

More than 28,000 energy customers were without power in Victoria at one point on Sunday.

Melbourne was also affected by heavy rain. The weather station at the city’s Melbourne Olympic Park recorded 24 hours from 9am on Sunday 35.4 mm rainfallhighest level since April 2024 BoM data.

A Bom spokesman said a “short-lived cyclone” may have hit parts of Melbourne’s western suburbs, but experts were still analyzing the weather and damage in the area to determine what happened.

“A narrow path of storm-related wind damage was observed in some of Melbourne’s western suburbs, including Wyndham Vale and Hoppers Crossing,” the spokesperson told Guardian Australia. “This could be the result of a short-lived hurricane, but this has not been confirmed at this stage. Further analysis will take place today.”

Victoria’s chief health officer Dr Caroline McElnay has warned that the possibility of a stormy asthma outbreak is increasing in the state’s northern region.

In November 2016, Melbourne experienced the world’s largest asthma outbreak, straining emergency services and killing 10 people.

– with AAP