”There were trees all over the road. We are talking whole big trees uprooted.”
A man in his 70s was also injured by a tree branch that fell onto a tent in Helensvale. He is in a stable condition in hospital with pelvic and back injuries.
Queensland MP David Crisafulli spent this morning examining the damage from the storm with police and locals on the Gold Coast. Photo / David Crisafulli MP, Facebook
A collapsed roof put a man in his 90s in hospital with a head injury, where he remains in a stable condition.
Fallen power lines, felled trees smashing cars and homes and several drivers crashing into poles kept ambulance crews busy on Christmas Day.
It took paramedics an hour to wrench one person from their car that was hit by a large tree in the Hinterland district.
Queenslanders have been warned to secure property, stay indoors and only travel on the roads if absolutely necessary.
”This came along quite quickly but the ferocity of it was extreme,” Newton said.
”Do everything you can to stay out of the storm and in somewhere safe.”
Damaging winds, heavy rainfall and large hail are likely between Mackay and the Sunshine Coast, and are possible south of Charters Towers, according to the Bureau of Meteorology.
Isolated to scattered showers and thunderstorms are predicted for Tuesday over eastern, northern, and far northern Queensland.
The Christmas Day storms have destroyed parts of South East Queensland. Photo / David Crisafulli MP, Facebook
Dreamworld and other Gold Coast theme parks have closed on Boxing Day due to the storms.
Severe heatwave conditions will continue in the northern interior and northwest, with maximum temperatures above average.
Brisbane is expected to have a maximum temperature of 33C, with showers and the chance of a severe thunderstorm.
An upper trough will cross southern Queensland over the next few days, increasing the likelihood of showers and thunderstorms in the east.
The trough is expected to weaken from Wednesday, extending into a broad low-pressure area on Thursday and Friday, while a weak ridge extends along the east coast.
In the far north, the clean-up and repairs following ex-tropical cyclone Jasper and severe flooding continue.
Crews around Port Douglas and Mossman have reconnected more than 200km of water pipelines.
More than 4200 property damage assessments have been completed since the system delivered heavy rain and damaging winds.
