“It was like nothing I have ever experienced.”
Russell Morris was among those affected by a wild tornado in Queensland this week, where a gust of wind travelling nearly 200km/h wreaked havoc across the Gold Coast and Scenic Rim.
Morris posted about the incident on Facebook yesterday morning (December 27), sharing a post by the Higgins Storm Chasing page with the caption, “This is what just hit us head on. It was like nothing I have ever experienced. Lot of damage. Lots of cleaning up.”
The post he shared detailed a “destructive storm” that hit parts of Queensland on Monday night (December 25), with the storm chasing group deducting it was a tornado “based [on] doppler radar [readings] and damage assessments”.
The storm reportedly began in the Logan regions of Flagstone and Cedar Vale, and promptly spread eastward across Tamborine Mountain, through upper Coomera, Oxenford, Helensvale and Paradise Point. According to Higgins Storm Chasing, a wind gust of 160km/h was recorded at Tamborine Mountain – however gusts could have grown as strong as 200km/h, as indicated by reported property damage. “The tornado was on the ground for 30 minutes,” wrote an admin for the page.
They continued: “Our thoughts are with everyone who went through this traumatic experience and especially those who have significant damage. A lady lost her life during the tornado and our sincere condolences extend to her family and friends.”
The storm’s significance was vouched for by the Bureau Of Meteorology, who confirmed (as per the ABC) that parts of the Gold Coast and Scenic Rim faced “very widespread destruction”.
It’s just one of several devastating weather incidents to have plagued the region this week, with the cumulative death toll now standing at seven. According to the ABC, three boaters were died when their boat capsized just off Brisbane’s coast, while a nine-year-old girl was taken by floodwaters in Brisbane’s south, and two women in their 40s died exploring storm drains north of the Sunshine Coast.
The ABC also verified the death aforementioned by Higgins Storm Chasing, identifying the person as a 59-year-old woman who resided in Helensvale.
The grouped storms led to severe power outages across Queensland, and as of this morning (December 28), more than 45,000 people were still without electricity in the Gold Coast and Scenic Rim regions. It’s hoped that 90 percent of outages will be solved by January 1.
In a press statement, QLD Premier Steven Miles said of the incident: “This is the first time we have seen a storm so intense that it has taken down concrete power poles.”