Thousands without power as storms hit Qld

At least 32,000 homes have been left without power in the state's south-east, after a line of severe thunderstorms ripped through Logan, Ipswich, Brisbane's northern suburbs and the Sunshine Coast hinterland.

Damaging winds brought down powerlines, while traffic lights and train services were disrupted.

At Goodna in Ipswich, wind brought down trees while flash flooding cut local roads in just 15 minutes.

"Some of the low-lying spots around Goodna have been subjected to flooding, quite unexpectedly," Ipswich city councillor Paul Tully said.

"The rain, the intensity of it, the branches have been knocked off the trees. I've seen wheelie bins knocked out into the middle of the road.

"The winds were so strong and traffic on some of the roads around Goodna is at a complete standstill."

More than 3,500 lightning strikes were recorded across the region - one of which cut services on some of Brisbane's northern rail lines.

The train services affected include the Caboolture, Shorncliffe, Airport and Doomben lines.

Energex spokesman Mike Swanston says Brisbane has copped the brunt of the power outages.

"By far the worst-affected area ... is the Brisbane inner area, generally from a line around about Mount Crosby in the west, through Kenmore, Indooroopilly and then across the other side of the city through to Bulimba and Balmoral," he said.

The weather bureau's Brett Harrison says up to 59 millimetres of rain has been recorded across the south-east.

"Some very large rainfall totals with most of that falling in about half an hour," he said.


Clean-up begins

Earlier in the afternoon, a line of storms ripped through St George in the state's south-west.

The town lost power as winds of up to 130 kilometres per hour tore through the area.

Some houses lost their roofs and locals reported falls of more than 100 millimetres of rain in outlying areas.

St George local Jim Salmon says despite the damage, residents welcome the rain.

"There was certainly some good rain. I measured about 60 millimetres in about 30 minutes," he said.

Mr Salmon says fallen trees have downed powerlines and some houses have lost their roofs.
"One of the hotel/motels lost part of the roof off the hotel," he said.

"[There are] branches down in the school yard. [The storm] took some powerlines down.

"It's taken the face off the clock in the centre of town.

"A bit of the roof off the museum, shade sails down at the swimming pool, a little bit of minor damage around the place. I haven't seen anything major yet."