UPDATE TUESDAY 6.00am
POWER was restored to 28,000 properties in Logan overnight, following Sunday night’s storm which saw 135,000 homes and businesses lose power.
An Energex spokesman said it was the worst power outage since Cyclone Debbie.
About 1400 properties are affected by the outages on Tuesday morning, with Energex reporting that it could take until late Tuesday for the power to be restored.
The spokesperson said the Energex caravan would be based at the Shell service station on the Mount Lindesay Highway at Jimboomba on Tuesday.
Customers still without power can charge mobile phones and get water.
Nearly 30,000 customers were without power about 3pm on Monday.
“A total of 100,000 customers had power restored within 22 hours,” the spokesperson said.
A total of 202 wires were still down on Monday afternoon, with 250 having been restored.
Eight schools were affected but only one – Crestmead State School – closed on Monday. The others, including Logan Reserve State School and St Philomena School continued to operate.
The spokesman said 700 people, including reinforcements from Ergon Energy, had been working to restore power after the storm.
Anyone who sees fallen powerlines is reminded not to touch them and to phone 13 19 62.
UPDATE 4.30pm
THE sound of lightning was followed by a “whoosh” as a 14 metre tree collapsed on a Egret Court awning at Jimboomba, causing thousands of dollars of damage.
Jimboomba resident Violeta Bryce was home at 5.15pm on Sunday morning when the “freak” strike directly hit the tree.
“It was a big lightning and a whoosh. It was terrible and really heavy and loud,” she said.
“I hope insurance can cover it.”
While no other direct damage was caused to the home as a result of the storm, David Bryce spent Monday clearing his yard with a chainsaw.
Mr Bryce said he had never experienced such a sheer scale of damage at his home.
“We had the awning up here for nearly five years and we have been through some horrific storms, it has been as solid as a rock,” he said.
“There was probably between $30,000 and $40,000 worth of damage. We are going to get the professionals to come in and move it, it is not worth risking my life or anyone else’s life.”
With fears of a similar storm brewing on Monday night, the Bryce family are apprehensive about what could be in store next.
“We have lived in the area for 17 years and have usually been lucky with storms,” Mr Bryce said.
“If we get another storm there are some exposed areas of the house, but it is structurally sound and we have no immediate danger in our home…we have friends around if we need help.”
UPDATE 4pm
WILD winds, hail and rain could hit south-east Queensland later on Monday evening, the Bureau of Meteorology has warned.
Meteorologist Sean Fitzgerald said storms west of Warwick were being closely monitored.
He urged residents to keep alert.
While inland winds were not as strong as those experienced on the coast, Mr Fitzgerald said inland regions were battered by hail.
He said the humid and hot conditions experienced yesterday had been repeated today and warned residents to keep their eyes on the skies.
"There's a possibility of a severe storm, with large hail and gusty winds,” he said
"By the time it got to coast it was more gusty and it could be a similar story tonight.”
UPDATE 3pm
ENERGEX workers have set up base at Jimboomba to keep their crews fed and assist people still experiencing power issues following the Sunday night storm.
Energex employee Holly Lister said they would be based at the Shell Service Station off the Mount Lindesay Highway for the afternoon for people in need of information
“We do still have a significant amount of outages, particularly across the Logan City region and we are at this stage estimating it could be out until Tuesday night for some people,” she said.
“We are here to be a point of call.
“We understand there are some telecommunications issues at the moment, so the community can drive by and see us and we can provide updated information and water.
“In the meantime, if power lines are seen down do report them, around 500 power lines were down from this morning.”
The Energex base is providing a sausage sizzle for crews on the job and people in need.
Energex are expected to be deployed in Logan on Tuesday but an exact location has not been confirmed.
According to the Energex website, 27,096 customers in Logan City are still affected by power outages as of 3pm.
UPDATE 11am
FIVE Logan SES crews are on track to finish a majority of the 114 call out jobs in the aftermath of the storm.
Logan SES controller Jim Ferguson said the damage on the ground was evenly shared across the area, with no particular suburb taking a larger hit than others.
“Of the outstanding jobs on the books 80 per cent relate to trees coming down in some way and 60 per cent of them are across driveways...there are others with trees fallen on top of houses,” he said.
“We have five SES crews on the ground and five rural fire teams chopping things down.”
“No particular area is worse than any other – it has been shared across the board.”
People waiting on SES crews to arrive are urged to remain patient.
Mr Ferguson said anyone who has called SES and managed to clear the damage themselves are encouraged to call SES to allow them to progress with other jobs.
UPDATE 9am
AT LEAST some properties in the Jimboomba area will only have power restored on Tuesday, according to an Energex spokesman.
Energex are setting up a mobile base at Jimboomba where residents will be able to charge mobile phones and get something to eat.
“It’s going to be a couple of days at least,” the spokesman said.
“It’s a mess out there.
“We have about 400 wires down, there’s underground damage, there’s everything.”
The spokesman said there were 265,000 lightning strikes during the storm, which was double what is usually experienced during big storms.
Winds were reported to be in excess of 100km/h.
The spokesman said anyone with a medical condition needing treatment should phone 000 or make their way to a hospital.
EARLIER
THOUSANDS of people across Logan were among the 130,000 left without power after a storm hit south-east Queensland on Sunday night.
Energex are reporting that some homes in Logan may only have power restored on Tuesday evening.
On Sunday night Energex reported that there were more than 265,000 lightning strikes in south-east Queensland.
“This and the high winds have ripped down more than 500 powerlines and taken out power to 130,000 customers,” a spokesperson said.
They warned that power would not be running until Monday or Tuesday in areas badly hit.
On Sunday night powerlines were reported to be down on Cedar Grove Road, Mundoolan Road, Clydesdale Road, Peppertree Drive on the Millstream Road side, Pub Lane and Round Ridge Road.
Trees were reported to be down on Margaret Road and Cusack Lane.
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