Shoppers and staff members at a Sunshine Coast supermarket were shocked when a section of ceiling collapsed and rainwater poured into the store during a weekend of wild weather that caused havoc across the region.
The ‘closed’ sign went up at White’s IGA Mooloolah after a heavy downpour, which led to a third of the shop floor being covered in water, on Saturday evening.
It was among several businesses forced to shut as the region was lashed by intense storms on Friday and Saturday nights.
The Bureau of Meteorology said there was more than 100mm of rain, 10,000 power outages, 66,000 lightning strikes and wind gusts up to 90km/h across the region.
Some roads were flooded and a car was crushed by a tree at the Noosa Hill Climb event.
But there was a silver lining for some locals, who lapped up the chance to surf some unusual waves at Caloundra, where the local council opened Currimundi Lake due to high water levels.
White’s IGA Operations Manager Regan Jensen said a drainpipe blocked by debris led to an overflow into the roof cavity at the Mooloolah Valley store.
“Our team noticed some bubbling in the paintwork on the roof and we made arrangements (contacted the landlord to coordinate a plumber) to see what was going on,” she said.
“Within half an hour, a section of the roof above our produce fridge gave way and some of the plasterboard on the bulkhead came down with the water.”
“There was a lot of water. When it happened, it was still raining, so all that water came straight through into the shop.”
The shop was closed early and the team worked into the night to ensure it could be reopened on Sunday morning.
“It was an inconvenience and a big cleanup. The team handled it like pros, they were awesome,” Ms Jensen said.
The Queensland Police Service told Sunshine Coast News that SES crews were tasked to 35 jobs during the weekend, with the majority related to leaking roofs.
The Queensland Ambulance Service said a man in his 60s was taken to Sunshine Coast University Hospital in a stable condition, after a tree fell on him at a private address at Kureelpa on Saturday morning, but it’s not known whether it was weather related.
The storm on Saturday night brought most of the rain, with Mountain Creek recording 135mm and a number of areas recording 100 to 130mm. More than 80mm fell in one hour at Maroochydore. A wind gust of 90km/h was recorded at Nambour on Friday night.
Energex reported 4000 outages in the region on Friday night and 6000 on Saturday night, mostly from lightning strikes and tree branches being blown on to mains. Energex also recorded a combined 66,300 lightning strikes between Caboolture and Gympie over both nights.
Footage and photos on social media showed minor flooding on the streets of Maroochydore and around the banks of Lake Kawana.
Meanwhile, Clayton’s Towing shared a photo of a crushed racing car at the annual Noosa Hill Climb event, which was brought to an abrupt end.
Sunshine Coast Council local disaster management coordinator Jason Membrey said there was minimal damage to council-operated assets.
The weekend’s wild weather was not all doom and gloom.
Surfers and bodyboarders made the most of some rare waves at Caloundra, where water flowed from Lake Currimundi to the ocean.
Sunshine Coast councillor Tim Burns said the lake was opened manually “due to high water levels caused by heavy rain”.
Cam Macdougall captured footage of locals carving up.
“The local surfers love it as it is a pretty novel experience surfing a standing wave,” Cr Burns said.
“It was opened on Sunday morning with works overseen by council staff.
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“The lake is classed as an ICOLL (Intermittently Closed and Open Lakes and Lagoons).
“The lake is opened when required and under strict permit conditions provided by the state government.”
Bureau of Meteorology senior forecaster Angus Hines said the weekend’s successive storms were “part of a bigger pattern of widespread thunderstorm outbreaks that affected much of the east coast” fuelled by a “large injection of tropical moisture”.
Makayli Cool posted the above footage on social media on Friday, when an impressive storm moved through Sandstone Point. “Tiny bit scary,” she said.
Mr Hines said: “we’re in the thick of the storm season”.
“This was the third or fourth significant outbreak of thunderstorms over South-East Queensland in the past month and we’re still in the peak period.
“I expect there will be more thunderstorms during the next couple of months.”
He said conditions should settle for most of this week, before potentially intensifying this weekend.
