Much of the damage caused by the severe storm on Monday afternoon (November 24) was caused by the galeforce winds, as little rain was recorded. Damage to powerlines and fallen trees were most evident between Walloon and Ipswich. In Leichhardt Park at the corner of Ernest Street and Old Toowoomba Road at One Mile, a jacaranda was blown over and as it fell, it broke a large branch from a neighbouring jacaranda. Photos: LYLE RADFORD
Power outages caused by the damage to power lines were extensive after the storm passed through mid-afternoon on Monday. Walloon State School was closed on Tuesday as Energex and Council staff were out in numbers as they worked to clear debris and restore power.
Walloon Hotel publican, Stewart Gibson (pictured), was taking down the umbrellas in his beer garden when the storm wind hit on Monday afternoon. “It launched one of the umbrellas like a missile straight at me …”
WALLOON Hotel publican Stewart Gibson lived through many cyclones when he lived in Cairns, but the storm wind that blew through his beer garden on Monday was the worst he had ever experienced.
“It hit us around 3pm when I was out taking the big umbrellas down,” Stewart said. “The wind launched one of the umbrellas like a missile … it hit me and knocked me back about two metres.”
As a result of the blow, Stewart spent some time at Ipswich Hospital with a suspected broken wrist.
“Fortunately, it wasn’t,” he reported.
“But that wind, it was scary.
“I lived in Cairns for 12 years, through cyclones and yet that storm wind on Monday was like nothing I have ever been through before.”
While the storm brought with it very little rain and only a smattering of hail, it caused extensive damage to powerlines between Walloon and Ipswich.
When we spoke with Stewart on Tuesday afternoon, power had just been restored after a 24 hour outage.
We asked him whether he could estimate the windspeed during the storm.
“I read somewhere that we should be prepared for wind speeds up to 150km/h. I don’t know what speed it reached during the storm but it was like a tornado … like in that movie … scary.”
