Source : Perth Now news
Insurance claims have soared across a storm-hit region after winds compared to a category one cyclone uprooted hundreds of trees and damaged thousands of homes.
Insurers have received more than 2700 claims since supercells hit southeast Queensland and northern NSW on Wednesday which triggered flash flooding and forced the closure of roads and more than 20 schools.
Around 300 of the claims related to food spoilage as power was knocked out to 25,000 homes on Thursday.
Insurance Council of Australia said 2400 claims were lodged from Queensland.
The supercells dumped up to 100mm of rain on the region, with the SES receiving more than 300 calls for help, almost 240 of them in Logan, south of Brisbane.
Most were related to trees brought down by severe gusts that damaged homes and businesses, blocked roads and access to properties.
A storm knocked out another 600 households in Logan on Friday evening after more than 112,000 lightning strikes were recorded.
Insurance Council of Australia CEO Andrew Hall urged policy holders to record damage and keep receipts for emergency repairs or temporary accommodation.
“Whether a home has been badly damaged or a family has lost power and a fridge full of food, every household affected by these storms is dealing with real cost and stress,” he said.
Severe thunderstorms continued to dump heavy rain and trigger flooding overnight with parts of Queensland’s Darling Downs region drenched with 124mm in two hours.
Logan mayor Jon Raven said gusts up to 120km/h pummelled areas south of the city on Wednesday as storms left a trail of destruction, sparking hundreds of calls for assistance.
Some houses lost roofs.
The storms kicked off what is expected to be a wet and wild end to the week across the southeast, with heavy rain forecast.
More storms are likely across much of Qld and eastern NSW including a patch of severe weather for Sydney on Saturday night.
“We’re in the middle of a big week of thunderstorms across southeast Queensland,” the bureau’s senior meteorologist David Crock told AAP.
Wet weather was set to continue into the weekend as moisture was dragged down from the tropics, bringing the further risk of flash flooding, he said.
