Clean-up begins after wild Qld storms
South-east Queensland will begin clean-up efforts this morning after severe thunderstorms battered the region late yesterday, leaving one person dead and thousands without power.
The State Emergency Service (SES) says it received more than 80 calls for help, as the storms dumped hail and produced gusty winds and heavy rain in Brisbane, Ipswich and the Gold Coast.
There were scores of road accidents because of small hail and a man was killed when two cars collided at Ormeau.
The winds, which had been forecasted to reach up to 80 kilometres per hour, brought down power lines, leaving thousands of residents without electricity.
At Strathpine, to the north of Brisbane, there were reports of golf ball-sized hail that caused damage to roofs, cars and windows.
Department of Community Safety spokeswoman Chantelle Rule-Murphy says the damage was widespread, but not major.
"SES were kept very busy with a number of jobs. In total they attended to 80 jobs," she said.
"In Petrie [north of Brisbane] we had a retirement village of 76 houses, with 70 of them affected by the storm, that came through mainly for minor roof damage.
"On the Gold Coast, a falling light pole caused major damage to a football club and a man was killed in a car crash at Ormeau.
"A tree crushed a car leaving a man with head injuries, and at Broadbeach a monorail was hit by lightning."
The damage is still being assessed from storms.
The weather bureau is expecting clear skies to return on Sunday.