About 50,000 properties across south-east Queensland are still without electricity on Thursday (12 November) after severe storms swept through the region on Wednesday (11 November), with most of the outages affecting residents in Logan, the ABC reported. Brisbane Times reported about 49,000 people remained without power in the Logan area by 6.30am on Thursday.
Energex spokeswoman Rebecca Winter said many damaged powerlines and poles needed to be replaced. "This is not going to be a quick fix — the damage is severe," she said. "Fresh reinforcements are coming from further afield to back up the crews who have been on the job since yesterday afternoon."
On Wednesday night more than 81,000 households across south-east Queensland lost power, almost 60,000 of them in the Logan area, the ABC reported at the time. Energex spokesperson Justin Coomber said crews had reported "extensive damage" to the network. "We're hearing reports from crews that there are cement poles that have been smashed … and that shows the ferocity of those winds," he said.
Logan Mayor Jon Raven said Category 1 cyclone speed winds hit the area, with over 400 power lines downed across the city. "We had people whose roofs were ripped off their homes in Regents Park and Marsden," he said. "Our priority is to get trees off roads, off footpaths and getting people clear access to their homes."
Parts of the region recorded between 50 to 80 millimetres in just half an hour, and wind gusts of up to 96km/h, according to Brisbane Times. The ABC reported almost 80mm of rain at Wishart, in Brisbane's south, over a 30-minute period, and 2cm hailstones at Canungra in the Scenic Rim.
A falling tree knocked out traffic lights before crashing into cars on Aspen Circuit in Logan Reserve about 4pm, and another came down on Logan Road in Eight Mile Plains, striking two vehicles just before 5pm, Brisbane Times reported. SES crews responded to more than 320 requests for help across the south-east, 243 of them from Logan City, mostly for fallen trees and tarpaulins for leaking roofs.
Schools Closed in Logan
The Education Department's state school closures list on Thursday morning named 13 state schools, including Burrowes, Crestmead, Marsden and Yugumbir state schools, Marsden State High School and Yarrabilba State Secondary College. The department says schools on the list are sites it has determined are unsafe for staff and students to attend. The ABC reported at least 20 schools remained closed in the Logan City Council region.
Mobile outages are continuing to affect several Logan suburbs, including Marsden, Crestmead and Waterford West, and a Telstra spokesperson said the company was working with authorities to restore services as quickly as possible, the ABC reported.
More Storms Forecast
Bureau of Meteorology senior forecaster Jonathan How said much of south-east Queensland could see more storms today. "The Gold Coast all the way up towards Brisbane, the Sunshine Coast and Bundaberg could all see severe thunderstorms again today," he told the ABC.
"We could see severe thunderstorms developing again this afternoon, bringing heavy rainfall, damaging winds and large hail, and areas which could be impacted later today include Brisbane, the Sunshine Coast, the Gold Coast, as well as places like Bundaberg, Hervey Bay and inland towards the Darling Downs," How said, according to Brisbane Times. The weather is expected to ease on Friday before a resurgence in storm activity at the weekend.
Current warnings are published on the Bureau of Meteorology's Queensland warnings page.