{"id":44540,"date":"2013-09-17T21:00:24","date_gmt":"2013-09-17T11:00:24","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/southburnett.com.au\/news2\/?p=44540"},"modified":"2020-12-11T16:58:37","modified_gmt":"2020-12-11T06:58:37","slug":"storm-season-starts-with-a-bang","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/southburnett.com.au\/news2\/2013\/09\/17\/storm-season-starts-with-a-bang\/","title":{"rendered":"Storm Season Starts With A Bang"},"content":{"rendered":"
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A fallen tree rests on a home in Cairns Street, Nanango\u00a0(Photo: Jane Erkens)\u00a0<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
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Emergency services workers in Church Street at the height of Monday night’s storm
\u00a0(Photo: Jane Erkens)\u00a0<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

September 18, 2013<\/strong><\/p>\n

Monday night’s wild storms – the first of the season – unroofed a house, downed powerlines and caused widespread blackouts in the South Burnett.<\/p>\n

At the height of the storm, Kingaroy SES was called to a house on Kumbia-Brooklands Road which had been unroofed by the strong winds.<\/p>\n

Peter Verbakel, from Kingaroy SES, told southburnett.com.au<\/strong> volunteers found the roof had been completely blown off.<\/p>\n

The interior of the home was badly damaged but, fortunately, the elderly owner was not injured. The SES remained at the scene to do emergency repairs until about 2:00am.<\/p>\n

SES volunteers and council workers were kept busy overnight and on Tuesday removing fallen trees and large branches from roads as the storm left a swathe of destruction from Nanango, through Brooklands to Maidenwell.<\/p>\n

Wind gusts of 63km\/h were recorded in Kingaroy at 7:55pm but readings of up to 80km\/h were recorded by other weather stations in south-east Queensland as the storm cells passed through.<\/p>\n

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Two large shade sails at Ringsfield House were destroyed by the winds (Photo: Jane Erkens)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

In Nanango, the wind ripped apart two large shade sails at the historic Ringsfield House in Alfred Street.
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\nNanango Historical Society president Ros Gregor said the two damaged sails had now been taken down.<\/p>\n

“I’m not sure yet if we can afford to replace them,” she said.<\/p>\n

Ros said a lot of trees in the Ringsfield gardens had lost limbs. One large branch fell on a stack of pavers which were going to be placed into a footpath, damaging some.<\/p>\n

“We’re lucky nothing fell on any of the buildings,” Ros said.<\/p>\n

Other parts of Nanango were not so lucky. A tree smashed into the tennis courts in Drayton Street, badly damaging fencing.<\/p>\n

Large trees also fell in Chester Street, Burnett Street, Cairns Street and Pioneer Park.<\/p>\n

The winds also damaged signs and powerlines came down in Church Street, near Karinya.<\/p>\n

South Burnett Regional Council workers were called to repair damage to a sewerage pump.<\/p>\n

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The tennis courts in Drayton Street, Nanango (Photo: Jane Erkens)\u00a0<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

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In Blackbutt, fallen powerlines in Enid Court blacked out about about 1300 Ergon Energy customers in Blackbutt and Benarkin and about 150 customers in Yarraman.<\/strong><\/p>\n

About 300 \u00a0homes in the Brooklands, Maidenwell and Wengenville areas – and 200 in the southern part of the Nanango town area – were still without power at 1:00pm today.<\/p>\n

All power was restored shortly afterwards with the exception of 28 Ergon customers in South Nanango which were affected by a leaning pole.<\/p>\n

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Near Kingaroy, \u00a0trees and branches fell on the Bunya Highway, Kingaroy-Cooyar Road, Redmans Road and Parsons Road.<\/p>\n

* * *<\/p>\n

The storms brought welcome rain to the region. Some Bureau of Meteorology official totals:<\/strong><\/p>\n