Authorities are scrambling to restore vital services to south-east Queensland after severe thunderstorms downed powerlines and wiped out mobile phone service.

Severe thunderstorms rolled through the state’s south-east on Monday and Tuesday night, bringing heavy winds, rain, and hailstones as large as 14 centimetres. 

Solar panels on a home roof with damage from giant hailstones

A run of severe storms with giant hail have caused tens of thousands of dollars of damage to solar panels. (ABC News: Will Murray)

More than 160,000 customers across south-east Queensland lost power as a result of the storm, frustrating efforts to restore mobile phone service and re-open state schools with seven remaining closed today. 

State Emergency Service volunteers have responded to about 530 calls for assistance since Tuesday afternoon, with about 1,800 jobs still outstanding.

Acting chief officer Scott Revell said the damage was substantial, describing the storm as similar to the conditions experienced during ex-tropical cyclone Alfred.

Loading…”We’re taking this very seriously and we’re bringing in crews from other regions,” he said.

“We’re gathering all the directors again this morning to get more volunteers so we can clear through these jobs.”

Storms to continue across Queensland

The south-east corner is once again bracing for severe storms for the third day in a row.

A spokesperson for the education department said the school closures were largely due to power and IT issues, and downed powerlines, rather than direct damage.

“Before any school can re-open, an assessment must be conducted to ensure the site is safe, and the department’s school closure website will be updated in real-time to reflect this,” they said.

Authorities ‘almost rebuilding’ parts of power network

Continuing power outages have also caused havoc for mobile phone towers, with some residents in hard-hit Bribie Island, north of Brisbane, and Coolum on the Sunshine Coast cut off from the network. 

Telstra regional general manager May Boisen said the telco was “making good progress” in bringing services back online. 

“Our backup power systems kept many services online for as long as possible, and we’ve been progressively restoring a number of our sites throughout last night and today,” Ms Boisen said.  

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She said Telstra had restored 90 mobile sites by Tuesday afternoon.

Energex said about 38,000 households remained without power, with crews working around the clock.

“Bribie [Island] is still a mess,” spokesperson Danny Donald said.

“In fact, it’s not just a case of repairing some of the network on Bribie, we’re almost rebuilding it.

“Before we can even start repairing it, we’re working with council and emergency services to actually remove a lot of the debris that’s over roads.”

Leaning power line on street after a storm

Energex is expecting to restore power to the majority of customers by Wednesday evening. (ABC News: Jessica Ross)

He said Energex expected to get “the majority” of customers back online by Wednesday evening, but more isolated areas could have a longer wait.

With more storms on the way, Mr Donald said they were keeping their “fingers crossed” more damage would be minimal. 

“The last thing our crews want to be going is doing repairs on stuff they only repaired a few hours ago,” he said.

Hail the size of cricket balls ‘hammering down’

Brad Jackson said the noise of the hail on his tin roof in the Brisbane suburb of Keperra was “like we’re under attack”.

“It started off with smaller hailstones, maybe marble size, that you’d get used to, and then progressed into cricket balls,” he said.

“[The] dog was a bit scared, wife and kids were a bit scared, but I found it a bit exciting.”A man in a white shirt and straw hat looking at the camera in front of his house.

Brad Jackson’s rooftop solar panels were damaged by hail at his Keperra home. (ABC News: Jessica van Vonderen)

Mr Jackson said his family’s solar power went offline due to the damage to the panels.

“They were hitting pretty hard and some of the concrete’s even got some scarring, when hail can scar concrete, you know it’s travelling at a fair rate,” he said.

An image of blue solar panels on a roof with cracks and damage

Monday’s storm brought giant hailstones up to 11 centimetres, damaging solar panels in Brisbane. (ABC News: Jessica van Vonderen)

In Cornubia, south of Brisbane, Mary Foster’s solar panels, roof tiles, and her son’s car were damaged during the hailstorms.

With the weather bureau predicting more severe storms this week, Ms Foster is preparing for more action.

“If there are more hailstones, there are more hailstones. Just keep out of their way.”

A photo of a woman leaning on a car with the windshield smashed

Mary Foster’s solar panels and roof tiles were damaged, along with her son’s car. (ABC News: Will Murray)

She said she would like to see more comprehensive warnings going out prior to dangerous weather events.

“These hailstones were the size of cricket balls, and they were hammering down into the grass, and they were digging two-inch holes in the grass,” she said.

Highest storm activity in over a decade

This year’s storm activity in Queensland has been the highest since 2013, and some residents are dealing with damage from multiple weather events. 

Are hailstorms getting more frequent in south-east Queensland?

The region has been hit by another round of storms which brought large and even giant hailstones. Is this the new normal?

It has led to what the Insurance Council of Australia has labelled an insurance “catastrophe”, with more than 16,000 claims made by Tuesday. 

Consecutive hailstorms at Cornubia have damaged the new roof on Victoria Sadleir’s home, which was replaced recently following ex-tropical cyclone Alfred.

“In the midst of changing my roof over and unfortunately, two hailstorms,” she said.

“Because it’s a build site the insurance says that if water comes in, I’m not covered for that.”

A woman in a pink shirt smiles at the camera

Victoria Sadleir’s roof was damaged again after being fixed following Cyclone Alfred. (ABC News: Will Murray)

She said roofers were working to make sure it was “sealed tight”.

“It happened again. How can two hailstorms happen back-to-back?”

Senior meteorologist Shane Kennedy said severe thunderstorms were expected today and Thursday, with the potential to extend up to north Queensland.

Large, dark storm cliouds gather over a Brisbane suburb

The Brisbane surburb of Chermside before the storm hit at about 3pm on Monday afternoon. (Supplied: MBK Aerials)

Mr Kennedy said the “unsettled” conditions were likely to continue through the rest of the week.

“On Sunday, we finally start to see some drier and cooler air push into the state, and that should really help to flush out much of the state early next week,” he said. 

“Looking at Monday and Tuesday next week, we should finally get a break for most of the state.”