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Thursday, October 10, 2024 | Digital Edition | Crossword & Sudoku

Ceilings collapse, snow-like hail after wild weather

Storms have lashed southern Queensland and northern NSW, bringing heavy downpours. (Dan Peled/AAP PHOTOS)

By Savannah Meacham in Brisbane

Clean-up efforts are under way after a severe thunderstorm wreaked havoc on homes and businesses north of Brisbane.

Storms stretched from northern NSW to central Queensland, bringing strong winds, rain, lightning and hail on Wednesday afternoon.

The Bureau of Meteorology said 170mm of rain had fallen at Mudgeeraba, 156mm at Burleigh Waters and 159mm at Tomewin in northern NSW.

Senior meteorologist Miriam Bradbury said there were reports of flash flooding across the southeast and down into the border with NSW.

“(There was) a lot of rain coming in very short space of time producing this flash flooding in a lot of places across the southeast,” she told AAP on Thursday.

While the Gold Coast was inundated by rain, Morayfield and Caboolture north of Brisbane looked like a white Christmas after the storm brought lashings of hail to the streets.

Social media photos showed residents making snow angels on the ice with streets covered in small white balls.

The heavy rain also caused extensive damage, with part of the roof at the Woolworths at the Supa Centre in Morayfield collapsing and the same occurring at the Red Dragon Martial Arts Centre.

A video posted by the martial arts centre on social media showed workers and children inside when the roof suddenly collapsed, letting in a waterfall of rain.

The business said it would be closed until further notice while the damage was assessed and repaired.

“Luckily no one was badly injured during the ceiling collapse,” it said.

The State Emergency Service received 111 callouts and responded to 108 storm tasks primarily in Brisbane, the Gold Coast and Moreton Bay areas.

Storm conditions in the southeast will ease on Thursday, but are expected to impact Queensland’s central highlands.

“Even though the storms have weakened, we’re still seeing these pretty widespread showers impacting the Gold Coast, Brisbane area, and pushing up towards the Sunshine Coast, too,” Ms Bradbury said.

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