Heat-struck Queenslanders are bracing for the return of intense storms on Wednesday after a short, sharp tempest left 30,000 people without power.
Trees and power lines were brought down across the state’s southeast on Tuesday night – with several roofs ripped from houses – as a freak storm smashed parts of Brisbane’s south.
Woodridge residents were the worst affected, with more than 3500 homes left without power, while Rochedale South, Upper Mount Gravatt, Underwood and Forest Lake were also hit hard.
Thirty-five State Emergency Service calls for help were received across the region, with a tornado reported to have hit Browns Plains.
Trains to Beenleigh and the Gold Coast were delayed upxjmtzyw to an hour due to debris on the tracks.
Rathdowny, 95km west of Gold Coast, was hit with 52mm of rain in just one hour.
The damage comes as a shocking two-day heatwave places immense strain on the state’s electricity grid, with Queenslanders warned to expect 90 per cent humidity and “unusually high” 40 degree apparent temperatures on Wednesday.
The Bureau of Meteorology is also tipping another round of severe thunderstorms, with heavy to intense rainfall and even flash flooding for Brisbane, the Gold Coast and right up to central Queensland.
“It’s all happening across Queensland at the moment,” meteorologist Jonathan How said.
“We’ve seen very hot and uncomfortable conditions right across the southeast and those very violent storms passing through.
“For those who were struggling with the heat yesterday, unfortunately, today will be just as bad or even worse than yesterday with extremely high humidity.”
Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk has also warned that the power grid could be put under pressure as the mercury rises.
“We do expect to see the peak of use of all of our energy supplies this evening,” she said.
Energy Minister Mick de Brenni said while energy supplies were operating at reduced capacity key infrastructures including hospitals would stay online.
“While we are working with major electricity users to manage demand, households can also take simple steps to help like turning off devices that are on standby and other appliances where it is safe to do so during the evening peak,” he said.
“It is possible that Queensland’s previous record demand of 10,044MW will be exceeded on either today or tomorrow,’ he said.
Remarkably, Powerlink chief executive Paul Simshauser said Tuesday night’s power outages had nothing to do with the heat and more to do with storm damage.
He said residents had modified their power usage after pleas from the government.
