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Severe and dangerous storms are sweeping across South-East Queensland, dropping giant hail near Gympie and dumping 76 millimetres on the Gold Coast in half an hour.
The Bureau of Meteorology (BOM) warned very dangerous cells were currently passing over the Sunshine Coast, near Rainbow Beach and Inskip.
They were likely to produce damaging winds and heavy rainfall that may lead to flash flooding and large, possibly giant hailstones.
Hail between 8cm and 10cm had been recorded at Wilsons Pocket north-east of Gympie. Hail about 4-6cm in diameter was observed at Kandanga.
About 120mm of rain had so far fallen at Biggera Creek Dam in one hour.
Kandanga Snack Bar assistant Kirsty Smith said the hail hit the area around 3:00pm and got larger as the storm passed over.
"It started off just little pebble-sized hail and it covered the ground looking like snow," she said.
"And then it got really big — about to golf-ball size and then really jagged hail, it was coming in at a really sharp angle too.
"There's a couple of houses around the place with smashed tiles on their roof and cars damaged, smashed windows, dents, smashed tail lights."
Cooloola Berries co-owner Kim Lewis said they heard the storm "roaring" for about two minutes before it hit.
"You could hear this funny roaring sound, very aggressive," she said.
"We just had huge hail, there wasn't a lot of it, but massive, bigger than a softball size."
Other severe storms were rolling over Redlands, Brisbane city, Logan city, southern Moreton Island, Comboyuro Point and Cape Moreton this afternoon.
They were likely to produce damaging winds and heavy rainfall that may lead to flash flooding.
BOM is warning locals to be cautious of flash flooding after 76 millimetres of rain fell at Southport on the Gold Coast in half an hour this afternoon.
The dangerous cell moved quickly over the region before heading offshore.
So far today, the Gold Coast seaway had received 69mm while Coolangatta got 21mm.
Steve Nicolai was caught in the torrential rain while working at an outdoor event held by the Southport Chamber of Commerce.
"The wind picked up and pretty much lifted the tent right up in one corner, and then slammed down and smashed and everything just blew out," he said.
"Quite a number of the tables were blown out of the tent area, everything was all over the place."
Energy Queensland spokesman Justin Coomber said the storms had cut power to about 6,000 customers on the Gold Coast and about 1,200 in the Gympie area.
Mr Coomber said Energy Queensland is working to restore power at the moment with some services already coming back online.
Topics: weather, rainfall, environment, australia, qld, brisbane-4000, bundaberg-4670, cairns-4870, southport-4215, longreach-4730, mackay-4740, mount-isa-4825, rockhampton-4700, maroochydore-4558, toowoomba-4350, townsville-4810
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