January 23, 2014
Wednesday afternoon’s storms brought smiles to many faces after a day of stifling heat but most South Burnett farmers will be hoping there’s still more rain around the corner.
Falls reported to southburnett.com.au ranged from none at Abbeywood to more than 36mm at Mannuem.
Other totals (at 10:00pm) were: 13mm North Kingaroy, 11mm Wattle Camp, 25mm Brooklands and 30mm Runnymede.
Kingaroy totals ranged from 3.4mm at the airport to 18mm near Kingaroy Hospital.
The storms also brought hail and strong winds, with Nanango copping the worst.
Ashleigh Carey, who was working at the Bendigo Bank in Nanango, said the storm felt like three heavy currents were meeting in the middle of the Fitzroy and Drayton streets intersection and “just battered down like a washing machine”.
Trees were uprooted in the town and at least one Nanango home lost part of its roof. The SES was kept busy with callouts to a number of properties suffering roof damage in the Nanango area.
The Kingaroy SES was also called to assist at a house in Kumbia after hail blocked gutters, causing rainwater to overflow into a building.
Avocado growers Teresa and Lindsay Francis, who were in Kumbia township when the storm hit, were worried the hail may have damaged their crop.
Their farm, only 1km away, received just 13mm of rain but the strong winds stripped sheets of corrugated iron off a shed, sending them flying through a paddock.
“The roofing iron severed a few rows of our irrigation but it’s nothing that can’t be fixed,” Teresa said.
The couple now have to wait to see if their avocados escaped hail damage; the family lost about 10 per cent of their crop in a similar storm last year.
At the height of the storm about 8400 Ergon Energy customers from Curra west to Kilkivan, Murgon, Wondai and Durong had their electricity supply interrupted for up to two hours due to damage affecting the Kilkivan bulk supply substation.
A blackout also struck Nanango about 4:20pm, affecting about 1300 customers until 7:45pm.
An Ergon spokesman said crews would be working throughout the night to restore power to homes in the region that were still without electricity.
“All available crews are working in the field to restore power quickly and safely,” he said.
The Bureau of Meteorology is predicting more storms and showers throughout the South Burnett until Monday.
(Photo: Teresa Francis)
(Photo: Ashleigh Carey)
(Photo: Jane Erkens)
